Bloodborne: Past Revival
by KeySlinger09
Summary: The Hunter, This time chosen from the future, is given the chance to return home, to regain what he lost of his life. While he finally leaves his past behind him, whose to say it won't follow. (Warning: includes strong violence and threatening)
1. Promise of pain

The night had provided this young man with nothing but horror, and introduced him to the true depths of insanity. At the top of the lecture building, this young man was fighting a great battle, armed with a massive axe and an old pistol. The young man's opponent was a mass of black fabric with six scythe blades sticking out of it like arms. Throughout the fight, the man was haunted by the sound of a baby's cry, as if trapped in a nightmare. No matter its source, he knew he couldn't let himself become distracted.

Its arms swung at him with lightning speed, but he was one step ahead. He kept his distance, and when it was about to strike once more, he aimed his pistol at the creature and pulled the trigger. The bullet, made of a material known as quicksilver, struck it in its centre, staggering it. He saw his chance, quickly put the pistol away, and grabbed the axe with both hands. He looked like he was trying to break it apart, but instead, it extended to such a great length it was more of a halberd weapon. He swung it with all his might, catching the creature and launched it into the air.

Upon landing, it struggled to recover. The young man paced towards it, and when he stopped right in front of it, he readied his axe, raising it into the air like an executioner, and pulled with all his might. Apart from the cry, all was silent. He stepped back and looked at his handiwork. Shortly after, the crying stopped, confirming his hunt was complete.

"It's done." he said. He turned to leave when he saw something surprising. An old woman in a bloodied wedding dress was standing in the exit, bowing to him. She faded away shortly after.

" _Now, it's time he kept his promise…_ " he thought.

….

Meanwhile, in a place where there is no misery, no sadness and true peace, we see a village in which lived a young woman, getting ready for her last week of high school. She was looking forward to it, because the last day was graduation day, and graduation night was going to be a night of truly wild partying. It would be an interesting experience for her. While she loved celebrating, she never quite took it to the level her friends did. She had been invited to her friends graduation bash, and she had been told to bring "certain" items with her.

She went down the stairs from her bedroom and started to make her way to the park. However, before she made her way out, she went into the living room, where she knew her parents would be. She peeked in, and saw them sitting in their own chairs. They did this every Saturday, ever since they lost their second child. Someone had broken into the house while they were asleep and kidnapped him. They were left in a state that words couldn't explain. The police searched everywhere but he was nowhere to be found.

They were left in great depression for two years, put after, they tried again. Thus, Kira was born nine months later. They had done this ritual since, as they were reminded of their first child.

When she had finished, she had tip-toed away from them. She caught a brief glance of herself in the mirror. She had pale skin, deep blue eyes, raven black hair and a vertical, long and narrow scar on where her neck and her chest met. That was the result of an accident at school, a window had been broken and one of the shards cut her and stuck in her neck. She was in hospital for three weeks, and she lived. The scar had actually made her more popular, but luckily, it didn't inspire her to get more like it. She exited the house, into the sunshine, all her concerns temporarily out of her mind.

"Hey!" , exclaimed a voice. Kira turned to the sound; she saw that it was her friend, Shauna. She had blond hair, freckled cheeks and green eyes. She was waving at her, telling her to come on over. Kira ran to her, waving back. When she stopped, they friendly hugged each other.

"Shauna, hey, are you ready for the party?" asked Kira.

"You bet, you got a date yet?" asked Shauna in return.

Kira froze. She had been so concerned about graduation an her part for the party, she forgot to get a date. Shauna saw this in her face and gave her an encouraging pat in the shoulder.

"Don't worry, you've plenty of time, now let's head for the beach, the rest are waiting."

Kira nodded in response, and the two proceeded to jog down to the beach. Suddenly, Kira's head flooded with pain, so much that she quickly lost consciousness and tumbled to the ground.

…..

The sky was nothing but grey clouds. Everything was void except for a small garden with a workhouse within. Within, lives an animate doll in a dress and an old, tattily dressed man in a wheelchair with a right peg leg. They were waiting patiently for someone to return.

Then, a white light appeared. When it faded, the young man who fought the black mass was standing in front of them.

"Welcome, good hunter." said the Doll.

"Ah, you've completed another trip without dying, good on you boy." said the old man.

"Gehrman that was one flipping time! Also, you told me the last hunter you had died all the time." replied the young man.

"The dream may keep you immortal, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about you."

"Well, you sure know how to show it. Now, keep your promise."

Gehrman was surprised at this sudden change in the conversation, but he understood it nonetheless.

"Very well, my boy. Remember when I told you that we took you into our family, to help make a difference?" said Gehrman.

"Which I later learned meant you took me from my real family." replied the man.

Gehrman pulled out a set of documents and handed them to him. He took them and started looking through them. Gehrman not only trained him since he was a month old, but also made sure he got an education that Einstein would be jealous of. He looked through them and saw a picture of a baby. There was a name next to that picture.

Aiden West.

…

"Ms. West?"

Kira woke up in her own bed, with a doctor standing over her. The headache has still felt her disoriented, but she can still hear her.

"Uh… where am I?" she asked.

"You're in your house, you feinted and your friend carried you back inside. Tell me, has this happened before, did you have any dreams?"

Kira hesitated for a few seconds. "I… never had this happen before. I dreamt… of a garden. Three people were talking. That's it." Whatever it was, it just left her curious.

….

"I'm from the year 2016!?" exclaimed Aiden.

"You were the only person to be born with natural superhuman abilities that every hunter would dream of. We needed you."

"You… stole… my LIFE! You stole what I had a RIGHT to!" Aiden was filled with more anger by the second. This betrayal was becoming too much for him. He readied himself for battle, only instead of the axe; he pulled out a silver claymore wrapped in bandages at the base of the blade. He also pulled out a portable Gatling Gun, which no normal human could carry.

"I'm taking it back." He whispered.

"Oh… I see… well, I see you need some calming down my boy. Let us get started." Gehrman stands up, revealing that he has a weapon of his own. It looked like a curved sword, but he quickly used the metal poles on his back to turn the sword into a scythe. He was also armed with a blunderbuss gun.

Aiden removed his mask and hat, revealing he had tanned skin, brown hair and the same deep, blue eyes as Kira, only his was filled with anger and bloodlust. He made the first move, he aimed his gun at Gehrman and soon after, quicksilver bullets were raining at him. He was, however, able to deflect most of them. One of them struck him in the leg. Aiden took his opportunity and ran towards Gehrman, thrusting his sword towards his head. Gehrman evaded this and punched Aiden in the stomach. Aiden was launched back, but he regained his balance in the air. He launch back at him, only now that on the way back down, Aiden activated something in the sword, turning the silver blade into a very wide, glowing, green blade. He swung it with all his might, which created a wave of green, magical energy.

Gehrman didn't expect this, and the distraction was enough for Gehrman to get struck with the blast. Suddenly, the air started to ripple. Then a flash of light appeared. A portal appeared.

"Well, well, well, well, it seems you've become stronger. Congratulations, you've earned your live back." Gehrman said with a smile. He lowered his weapons and sat back down in his wheelchair.

Aiden had a puzzled look on his face. He put his weapons away. "Was this some kind of test?"

"Yes, and you passed. I wanted to see if you were strong enough to leave. Go on then, get your life back!"

Aiden stood still for a few seconds, staring at Gehrman hatefully. He then proceeded through the portal.

"Farewell, good Hunter." Said the Doll.


	2. First Day

Kira had managed to recover from her headache the next day. In fact, she felt well enough to go with her friends again to the beach. They went early in the afternoon, wanting to make up for the time lost yesterday. It's not like they blame her for having missed out on the beach day the other day, but they just want to make sure they get as much time together as possible. They know they won't be able to hang out forever, since they will be going to different colleges after graduation. This is why they plan on having the best time of their lives.

Aside from Kira and Shauna, there was the sportsman of the group, Jack Spike, the brainiac, Julie Drew, Bridget Roche the surprisingly lovable deva, and the martial artist Conner Kennedy. Shauna had the role of the group gymnast, winning all the competitions for the school (which is why all the P.E. teachers were in tears in April). Kira, however, was an artist. She was talented with whatever she wanted to do, but she preferred sketching most of all.

"So, how's the artist doing these days? After the incident with your head, we were worried." said Connor.

"I'm fine; I don't think it will happen again… I think." replied Kira.

"You think? Yikes, we ought to keep an eye on you then, aye?" said Jack. Everyone quickly nodded in agreement. These people would always look out for each other.

"Just relax guys, I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine. Now, on another subject, how's the karate doing Connor?" explained Kira.

"I'm almost a ninth degree, I'll be invincible!" exclaimed Connor. He always had a flair for the dramatic; his parents were well known actors in the neighbourhood, always putting on shows both inside and outside the theatre.

"So, what's the plan for the party?" asked Bridget. At this, the whole group got lost in conversation.

…

While they were chatting, out far in the sea, a small area had crimson red blossoming around it. After thirty seconds, it stared to slowly come together, making a solid shape. It created the outline of a human, creating other features, such as a coat, gauntlets, etc.

The crimson was quickly replaced with the features of The Hunter, who would be known as Aiden West to the people of the Island. He woke, the cold water sending a reaction of shock, causing him to flail all over. When he finally got his bearings in the water, he looked around to see if he could find dry land. His eyes caught the Island, and so he swam like a hungry shark towards the land.

After five minutes of swimming, he finally made it to the shore. When he got his land bearings, he noticed a group of teenagers all decked out for the beach. He thought about going over to ask where he was, but he decided not to bother them and look for another source of information. He managed to dry off quite quickly as well.

As he strolled through the town on the Island, he was quite impressed. Since he grew up in a garden with only an old man and a living doll, this would be quite a step up, as well as being much more preferable to the city of Yharnam, which was the living definition of hell. He had to fight people and monsters that had been mutated by the tainted blood of the great ones. He still couldn't believe that it had happened, and it had all been because of the Byrgenwyrth scholars, they didn't care who would get hurt from their stupid experiments. His boiling blood could give off a rotten scent, and this was the minimum level of his anger.

Suddenly, he heard a scream. He looked in the direction of its origin. He saw a woman crying for help while a man was running off with a handbag, which Aiden deducted, belonged to the woman. He gave chase, pushing all his muscles as much as possible. He ran so fast that there was a strong gust of wind, which was no surprise from him.

The thief looked back and saw a young man dressed in an old garb catching up on him, with a raised fist. The last thing he saw was that the fist was directly in front of his face. Then all was black.

The Hunter skidded to a stop. He picked up the handbag and ran to the woman. She was in complete awe in what she had seen. He simply chuckled nervously and handed it back. She took it back, thanked him and hugged him. She quickly left afterwards. He wasn't quite able to make sense of what had happened just now. He didn't have good social skills. His social life mostly consisted slicing and exterminating the infected of Yharnam. The closest he came to having normal conversations was when he talked to other hunters who managed to evade the blood and even then they would end up discussing rather peculiar and disturbing topics.

He continued on his way, still curious to learn more about where he is and who he himself is.

…

The gang were still chatting when they were packing up to go home. It was night when they decided to go home. Time sure flies when you're having fun. Kira was certainly in a better mood, she practically forgot about her headache. They decided to go back in their swimsuits. Kira wouldn't normally do this because she was still self-conscious about seeing her scar. It may have made her more popular, but it still didn't make her consider it as an accessory. However, no one would see them in the dark, so she was fine.

They chatted on their way back, quietly so that they wouldn't wake anyone up. Soon after, only Shauna and Kira were left. As they strolled, they were unaware that they were being watched. Kira had some kind of sense gnawing at her, trying to tell her that they were in some kind of danger, but she ignored it.

As they approached the cross roads, they unintentionally bumped into another night walker. Upon their quick recovery, they saw who they had bumped into, a young man in old fashioned garb, a long coat, tricorn hat, gauntlets, etc. To them, he looked rather dashing.

"Oh, pardon me ladies, I didn't see you in the dark." apologised the man.

"That's what we were hoping for." stated Shauna. "We didn't like the idea of walking back when "some" guys can see us."

"I see, and now that my eyes are adjusting to the darkness, isn't it a bad idea to walk around in the cold night in just bikinis?" he asked with his head turned to the right, giving them more privacy.

"Aw, we're used to it. Ain't nothing we can't handle."

"Okay, well, can you tell me if there is a library here, I'm new around here and I'm trying to visit as many places as possible before resting."

Kira was certain he was a newcomer alright. "The library's closed, and by the way, it's hot enough during the night, do you always wear that?"

The man smiled. "I'm used to it."

The two girls looked at each other and then laughed.

Kira continued, "What's your name?"

"Aiden … Pierce, pleasure to meet you miss…"

"Kira and this is Shauna."

Aiden tipped his cap in salutations and left them to their journey. The girls looked at each other, realising they made a new good friend. They continued on their way.

The girls were almost at their houses when the feeling that Kira had earlier had come back, only more intense.

"Say, Shauna, you think something feels… off?" asked Kira.

"No, why do you-" Shauna was cut short, as they both received sharp blows to the head. Their attackers put bags over their heads to hide their identities, lifted them onto their shoulders and ran off.

…..

Aiden continued on his walk. He didn't feel comfortable with lying to his new friends, but he didn't want to risk anyone finding out who he really was, not yet anyway. As quickly as that thought came into his head, he suddenly felt his melee hand tingle. It was a reaction he had developed which told him that there would be an abnormality in the area he is in. Sometimes it didn't help, as during the hunt, he had been to areas that WERE abnormalities, like the Nightmare Frontier and the Hunters Nightmare. That feeling always saved him yet another death. He thought it peculiar that he was having this feeling in this area. He didn't know why, but he felt that he should check on his new friends.

He took two steps before his improved vision saw two men carrying a young girl each. He saw that they were wearing bikinis, which he still felt was an extremely strange thing for a woman to wear, but he suspected that they were the girls, but it was confirmed when he saw a scar on one of the girls. While he had his head turned from them, he still noticed the scar on her body.

His mind quickly went from the curious tourist to The Hunter. Luckily, he still carried all of his weapons. He aimed for his axe, but he realised it would be better to go for a weapon that seemed more normal. He then pulled out what seemed to be a cane that sharp edges that gleamed in the moonlight. Luckily it's nothing that could be noticed in sunlight. He then made off in the direction of the kidnappers, silent and staying in the darkest shadows.

….

Kira woke to see nothing but black fabric. She started to panic. Suddenly, the bag was ripped from her head, giving her a bit of a fabric burn. When her eyes adjusted to the firelight, she saw that there were two men in ski masks, both holding knives in their hands.

"Well, seems the other one finally woke up. About time too, I've been waiting for some entertainment since we finished with last one." one of them said.

Kira was still a bit dizzy, but she heard them clearly. Her mind suddenly thought of Shauna. Her eyes came upon her, lying in a pool of blood and two deep and long cuts in her stomach and her chest. She was breathing quick, sharp breaths, her eyes wide with pain.

"We had to deal with her a little sooner; she woke up on the way over and started screaming. No problem soon after." explained the second man with a twisted smile on her face.

Kira was in shock, tears quickly filled her eyes from seeing her friend like this. She tried to get up, but the first man kicked her in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her. He did so another eight times, leaving her with dark bruises on her stomach.

"You only get up when I say so got it!" he said, before proceeding to drive his knife into her thigh. She whimpered; she had been born with impressive pain tolerance. However, that didn't stop the tear flow from increasing.

"Impressive, now let's see how much more you can take!" he said.

He grabbed her by the throat, pulled the knife out of her and then aimed it at her chest. However, he was interrupted by the sound of a blade piercing a body. Kira thought for a horrifying second that it was her, before looking over her assailants shoulder and saw a long, thin blade sticking out of the companions head. The blade was pulled up, splitting the head in half. The body tumbled to the ground. That moment revealed the new visitor.

The Hunter

Kira recognised him. She was surprised to see him; even more that he was able to kill a man with ease and without hesitation. He pointed the cane at the assailant.

"Let… them… _go_." He said. His eyes filled with the bloodlust that had saved him on many occasions.

"No can do, I still have a few plans to finish off with." The assailant said. With that, he whipped out a revolver and fired. The bullet caught The Hunter by surprise. He dashed to the side, but while he managed to avoid a bullet to the heat, he got one in the arm in return. The pain caught him off guard, which granted the shooter to fire another round into his thigh. He dropped to his knees in pain. The assailant strolled towards him.

The Hunter saw him coming. He quickly looked around and saw he was right next to Shauna's blood pool. He would need to apologise for this later. He went on to his hands and knees to make it look like he was getting weaker. This was enough to fool the assailant, as he came to a hault with the same twisted smile on his face.

"You should really see a doctor about that." He said.

"Well, I recommend you see a dentist, you look like a beaver with those teeth." replied The Hunter. This wiped the smile off the assailants face. He readied the firearm, this time aimed at the eyes. He didn't notice, however, that his wounds were closing. After a brief smile of his own, The hunter shot his right arm at the assailant.

It went straight through, the fingers stuck out from his back. Blood sprayed all over him, turning his overcoat from grey to crimson. The assailant's face quickly showed a look of horror and disbelief, before his eyes rolled to the back of his head. The Hunter stood up, the blood sprayed on him now healing his wounds at a much faster rate. He then proceeded to tear his hand out of the corpse, the rest of his blood soaking the ground. As the body hit the ground, The Hunter looked at his work for a brief moment before he proceeded to check on Shauna.

It seemed she had fainted from the blood-loss earlier, so his secret was safe from her. He revealed his gain once more, cut his hand and placed the open wound on the gnash on her chest. He watched as colour returned to her face. After a minute of this blood transfusion, he tore off parts of his coat and used them as bandages. It may not have been treated properly, but it would do until he could find help.

He turned to find Kira staring at him, eyes wide with amazement and terror. He cursed himself under his breath. He walked over to her, but she pulled herself back.

"I only wish to help, please." He said putting his hands up as one would do in surrender. He tore off another piece from his coat. After waiting for her to calm down, he used to torn off piece to bandage her up.

"You're going to need a new coat." She said more quietly than intended.

"I've a spare." He said. The sound of police sirens suddenly filled the air around them.

He quickly said to her "If you wish to know more, meet me in the park tomorrow, but for now, don't tell anyone about me, say you were unconscious the whole time." he turned to the corpses. "They won't be saying anything anyway." With that, he ran into the shadows.

Kira wouldn't need to pretend to be unconscious, for the shock of the experience finally took its toll on her, and for her, everything went black.


	3. A New Hunt

As soon as the light from the torch hit her face, Kira had slowly regained her consciousness. Everything was still a small bit blurry, but she managed to make out that she was in the town hospital. She attempted to sit up, but someone held her down.

"Not yet dear, you're still not at full strength. Whatever those men put you through was enough that you won't be out of here until this day fortnight." explained the doctor. "Can you remember what happened at all?"

Kira heard the doctor, but she pretended not to listen. Her mind was still on Aiden and what he did to save her and Shauna. Now that Shauna entered her mind, despite the doctor's orders, she shot up straight screaming he friends name. "SHAUNA!"

"Calm down, she's safe." The doctor assured her. "We thought we were going to have some trouble with her, she was flailing like mad when we found her, nightmares probably, but she's alright now. Actually, she managed to heal quite quickly too. I always said you two were something else."

Kira was unsure of what she meant until her vision finally cleared. Much to her surprise, it was the family doctor, Maria Flynn. She had long, silver hair, despite being in her mid-twenties (she admitted to her she dyed it because she thought it suited her better), brown eyes, black button shirt, blue skirt and white coat. Despite being very young, she was a medical genius. Kira's parents always asked her to help if she was available, and she was always happy to oblige.

"Sorry I missed you the other day, by the way, I had an accident in the kitchen that day. Now, how are you feeling?" she said, trying to sound as professional as possible.

Kira didn't know what to say. She saw a gruesome and disturbing murder of two men and her best friend on the near verge of it, not to mention the strange abilities Aiden used on him and Shauna. All these thoughts were becoming too much for her. Tears came to her eyes, and she simply lunged for Maria, wrapping her arms around her and crying into her shoulder. Maria was surprised by this, but she didn't resist at all. She let the poor girl cry as long as she needed to.

….

" _Idiot, what were you thinking!?_ " The Hunter, now Aiden West once more, thought to himself.

He was leaning on the wall of his birth parents house. He witnessed the police and what seemed to be a medical crew enter the area and rescue the girls. Now, he decided that instead of telling her later on, he would tell her the truth as soon as possible. He followed the emergency services to the hospital, and heard them say that she would be back tonight. So he waited.

"Was that the best decision?" he heard a voice say. He turned and saw what appeared to be a ghost version of an old ally of his. When in doubt, images of his lost friends would haunt to give him guidance. He wore what looked like clothes made of dirty bandages and also a helmet of bandages covering his eyes. It was Simon, The Bowblade Hunter (hence named due to his sword being able to take the form of a bow as well).

"Killing the assailants, or saving the girls?" Aiden asked.

"Both," Simon replied.

Aiden paused for a second before answering, "Maybe not, and defiantly yes." Aiden answered.

"She knows about you, you will need to find a way to keep you secret hidden."

Aiden shook his head, eliminating the hallucination of Simon. He sighed with relief. As much as a help he was, Simon could be a bit of a pain sometimes. But then again, so was everyone he met in Yharnam. Minds had been warped, twisted and destroyed after the spread of the scourge. He may have been able to destroy it from eliminating the great ones, but that doesn't mean he managed to save it.

He shook his head more violently his time, wanting to hit something and scream out loud. Whenever he felt this angry, he always had beasts to take it out on. But now he was back in the world of men, and needed to learn new ways to calm himself.

" _I'm starting to wish I brought a corpse or two to practice on!"_ he thought.

….

Kira had been allowed out of the hospital shortly after she had finished crying. Her injuries had been treated while she was asleep, and all she needed was some rest. However, nothing could cloud what she saw. Instead of the fear that she felt earlier, she became more curious, no, truly determined to find out who this person is. No doubt he would be a lot more cautious; now that the authorities will be investigating what happened in great detail (she overheard a conversation from the policeman who brought her here on the way out).

"Are you alright?" asked her father.

Kira nodded. One of the policemen, Bob Smith, was assigned to act as her family's bodyguard until the investigation was solved. He was a surprisingly nice man, despite his gruff appearance. He stopped at a gas station for fuel and also got her a 3 litre bottle of diet coke, as he was told it was her favourite.

They arrived at the house and Kira was looking forward to a good night sleep. They exited the car and Bob told them he would be sitting in the car for an extra hour or two in case of trouble, hoping they wouldn't mind. They were okay with it, as Kira's parents were becoming more paranoid about her safety. They walked up to the front door, and only when they were just about to go in, Kira felt a sudden chill go down her spine. Remarkably, she turned her head towards the direction of the source.

"How are you feeling?" asked Aiden.

Her mother screamed, shocked that someone was stalking the house. Her father instinctively ran at him with his fists in the air. He tried to strike a blow to Aiden's jaw, but Aiden caught the fist with ease. Not wanting to offend Kira, he quickly let go of the fist and back flipped at a great distance.

"Dad, Calm down! That's the man who saved me and Shauna!" said Kira.

"You mean a homicidal Maniac!" he replied with rage.

Kira saw Aiden's face, and while he was striving to hide the fact, that comment seemed to have struck him hard.

"I would prefer a less… insulting term." Aiden said, his voice as cool as ice. His eyes soon caught the policeman Bob with his gun out. Without hesitation, he aimed and fired. Aiden simply caught it in his hand, with the sacrifice of blood spurting out of his hand for a brief second. He used that same hand to unleash his pistol, aiming for the policeman's head.

"Aiden, don't! "Screamed Kira. She ran at him and tackled him to the ground, causing him to miss his target as he pulled the trigger at the same time. She held him down, attempring to restrain him until he calmed down.

"No more, please just no more, there's been enough already!" she exclaimed, hoping to get through to him. It seemed to be working, as he soon started to calm down.

"Fine, it's a deal." Aiden said. "By the way, when did you gain such strength?"

Kira simply giggled in reply. She got off him and helped him up. They turned to Kira's parents and the policeman, all of which were in complete shock. She realized that they were in a peculiar situation. Aiden decided to take a leap of faith, and bowed to them.

"Good evening, madam and gentlemen. Before I introduce myself, I would like to apologise to you, sir, for trying to shoot you. Also to you, Kira, for I was only half honest about my name. I am Aiden West, Hunter of the beast of Yharnam, not that that matters anymore. Right now, all I will say is that I am willing to turn myself in for the slaughter of the assailants, but ask that you understand it was to save Kira and her friend." Aiden said; he then straightened up, kneeled to the ground and holding out his arms to be bound.

Everyone was bewildered, especially Kira's parents. Their son was named Aiden, he was gone for a long time, and he looked old enough to be him at this time. Her dad walked up to him and looked into his eyes, and saw the same eyes he saw from his daughter, from the son he lost. His own eyes welled with tears. His confusion and anger are getting to the best of him.

Kira just stood there, with only one thing on her mind. " _What the hell is going on!?"_

…

Aiden manage to prove that he is the missing son soon after with a self-made DNA test he came up with in order to track certain targets. He used it to prove to Kira's mother, now his mother as well, of his identity as she was still suspicious of him. They explained to him that he had been kidnapped by a very tall man in brown, old clothing and a large top hat.

"That may have been Gehrman, the man who trained me to hunt. Believe me, when he's active it is only a fool that would get his way. He took me because he needed someone with greater strengths and skills than the common man. I had never questioned these skills until now."

Mr and Mrs West understood what he meant, and so decided to explain. "Your father had a case of terminal cancer. We had gone to every form of doctor in hope of finding a cure, but no one could help us." Said Mrs West.

Mr West continued, "Then, an old friend of ours came to us, said that we still had a chance. He had been doing research into this thing called "Human rejuvenation." He asked us if we wanted to give it a try. Naturally, we agreed, and it worked."

Kira was engrossed in the tale, her expression gave away her amazement, but Aiden's face was shaped with worry.

"Later on, when we had you, we saw that the treatment doesn't just heal sick people, but also made those that had it incredibly strong. The doctor said your senses sharpened and you could handle pain better. I made a joke that you would be the best fighter of all time, but it seems fate took it a bit too seriously."

Aiden became even more worried as the story progressed.

"I need you to do something, please." Aiden said.

"Of course, what is it?" Mr West said.

Aiden pulled out a silver knife and gently signalled him to stick out his hand. He did so, slightly worried about what is going on. Aiden pricked a tiny hole in is index finger and squeezed a few drops onto his own hand. He lifted it to his nose and smelled it.

"NOO!" screamed Aiden. He fell back on his chair with the shock.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Mr West asked.

"The procedure for your cure, did it involve a transfusion?"

"Well, yes, actually. Why?"

"Gehrman trained me to become the "Homicidal Maniac" you called me in order to fight and kill monsters that had infested the town. These monsters, however, were created through a tainted cure. This cure had been used on all the towns' residence."

"Um, why are you telling us this?" asked Kira.

"Because I think that tainted cure was used on father!" answered Aiden.

Kira and the parents were absolutely stunned. "What was the cure?" Mrs West asked.

"Age old Celestial Blood, blood from monsters called Great Ones that held dangerous and terrifying power. I eliminated them, but it looks like, somehow, someone managed to bring some here."

This was becoming more disturbing as he went on. Kira asked, "Are we going to turn into monsters?"

"I won't. During my time as a hunter, I was unable to contract the disease, so I could use them freely without changing, and have somehow managed to build immunity to it now. But you and father… I'm going to need to find the source of the blood, and then I can find a way to stop it." Aiden's face grew sterner by the second. "Make sure you all stay in the house until I find the source, we can't risk the scourge spreading here too. " He turned to Mrs Wet, "I'd let you leave, but there is a chance that you could be a carrier. Considering there have been no symptoms, there's a chance it will come about within a week, or possibly 2 or 3 months. Trust me, Stay in this house!"

Aiden's hands went for the inside of his coat, pulling out the Moonlight Sword and the Blunderbluss.

"Nice gear." commented Kira.

"Thanks… _Tonight, The Hunt begins again_ …"


	4. Blast from the past

Aiden had spent three days trying to find the doctor that held his father's transfusion. It proved to be more difficult than he thought; apparently, the man had disappeared a week after the procedure, and no one could find out where he had gone to. Everyone thought it was strange, but no one really paid much attention to it for long.

" _Eejits!",_ Aiden thought. He searched the local market place in hope of finding someone who may have conversed with him. This, however, proved to be more tedious, and actually lead to some self-concern. With all the people he talked to, there wasn't a single one who didn't think he was odd. There were people whispering behind him, mainly about his clothing style. While he was ready to strike them with his axe, he realised that they had a point. He had been wearing clothing that seemed way out of touch compared people his own age.

He came across a clothes shop, his eyes coming across some interesting attire. He checked on the cash given to him by his parents and saw it would fit within his budget. An hour later, he came out with a similar, but more modern style. He was now wearing a black cotton jacket that went a little farther than his waist level, blue trousers with grey knee pads, black and white free-runner shoes and a grey t-shirt with a picture of a wolf's face. He also bought a scarf to act as a mask when he was to enter a fight (It was practically a tradition for him at this stage to fight with his face covered). However, he still had his grey coat that served him on the hunt, as it was good for carrying his equipment.

With that, he continued on his search. After another two hours, his eyes came across an old building in the distance. It seemed abandoned, which meant it would be the best place to hide. He entered the building as quietly as possible, in case his instinct was right. When he entered, he continued walking through the corridor within.

"How long was this place abandoned?" Aiden muttered to himself.

After six minutes of walking through the empty building, something suddenly raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He turned to the source, only to face a door with a bloodstain on it, one shaped like a man hanging upside down. Readying the blunderbuss, he reached out for the door handle. Within a quick movement, he opened the door and fired his weapon without hesitation. There seemed to be no one in the room.

What he saw was something that actually put fear into him. It was a blood transfusion room that bore very accurate similarities to the room which was in the clinic he investigated. A woman named Iosefka had seemed to be rounding up citizens for some reason, only that it was an imposter who had been turning those citizens into celestial creatures, including the real Iosefka. He put an end to her when he discovered the truth, and was force to end the suffering of those she turned. His greatest regret was that he couldn't of found out sooner.

He explored the room, hoping to find some clues as to what is happening. He came across an old vial with some dried up blood at the bottom. He sniffed it and found to be the same strand of blood that he fought against. He placed it on the table nearby. He was going to inspect the items resting on the chair, when he suddenly felt the presence of another person in the room.

He aimed the pistol directly at the intruders head, only to be surprised at the side of the person in question. A man with a black cap, coat and gloves, a white scarf, grey hair and bandages over his eyes. His clothes had rips and bloodstains on them, as if he was in an extremely dangerous fight.

It was the church hunter, Father Gaisgoine. One of the many infected by the blood that Aiden put down.

"It's a lovely day today, isn't it." said Gaisgoine, "I never thought I would become accustomed to such a disgusting place. But it proved to be the perfect place to spread the beginning."

"I destroyed you." Aiden said.

"You destroyed what was left of me. My soul was freed, and it came here. You can never truly die if you don't want to. I also found that the blood… oh the sweet blood… was far too intoxicating to give up. I had it remade, and tested it on a dying man. I'm amazed with his immunity, but disappointed. I, of course, couldn't give up on my aims."

Aiden was becoming angrier by the second; the shame of failing to permanently end his prey. "How were you able to synthesize the blood… it means to make it."

Gaisgoine chuckled. "Let's just say there was only one other who returned. Not for the same reasons as I." Gaisgoine saw a giant shadow appear behind Aiden. "But rather for revenge against the one who slaughtered her."

Aiden was confused by this, but noticed a shadow build up behind him. He spun and jumped through the ceiling, making a large, gaping hole in the process. He looked down and saw who Gaisgoine was talking about. It was a mass of grey-blue tentacles, yellow fuzz of some kind and green eyes hidden beneath the grotesque face.

Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos. She was original source of the old blood.

Aiden grinned with a twisted smile, looking forward to this next battle.

"Now… You-"

….

"-'re serious!?"

Since Kira and her parents were put under quarantine, she spent a lot of her time reading, watching TV and chatting through their phones. She was hoping to get around to showing Aiden all the new technologies; since he had spent almost all his life in the Victorian era.

She was halfway through another one of her novels when a though suddenly came to her. She was slightly ashamed that it never crossed her mind before. From what she knew, his life was nothing but darkness and violence, forced to become a monster. If he was going to be able to fix all of this, he would need to be able to make the transition from The Hunter to Aiden West. It was not going to be an easy transition.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, followed by the sound of her father's voice asking them to leave. She was annoyed by how he took Aiden's warning too seriously; if the blood hadn't turned him into a ghoul or anything by now, they must be safe. She rolled her eyes with a mild chuckle, and her eyes came across a baby picture of Aiden. She wondered what life would've been like if he was with them. In fact, if he was still at home, would she have even been born?

She shook her head, and then decided to call Shauna to see how she was doing. " _I wonder how Aiden's doing._ "

…

Aiden dodged another tentacle and another comet blast. It seems Ebrietas has become a lot stronger since their last fight, which only acted as a source of excitement for The Hunter. For him, powerful opponents is what counts, it's what makes a fight worth fighting. Unfortunately, one of these tentacles struck him square in the face and he went flying through six walls and trapped in the second, followed by another tentacle wrapping itself around his leg. When he was pulled out, Ebrietas brought him right to her face.

" _Good grief, how many hideous Great Ones are there?_ " thought Aiden. He then pulled out another trick weapon, a high powered pressure weapon that acts as a blade strapped to his arm. He pushed the blade into the mechanism. Luckily, she hadn't seen him use this weapon before, so she didn't expect the great explosion that was created when the mechanism was released. It was Ebrietas' turn to go flying. The stake driver was definitely something you would want to hang on to.

The Hunter, who had quickly shot off the tentacle that restrained him, watched as this almighty being fly like a thrown pebble into a bloody mess. She tried to get up, but was blinded due to the explosion destroying her eyes. Angered by this she let out what sounded like a scream of boundless rage, along with explosive shooting stars that were headed towards The Hunter. Surprised, he ran like lightning through a door for cover. The explosion wasn't as powerful as the one created by the stake driver, but it was enough to send many of the rooms in the old hospital into a state of collapse.

He was surprised at the amount of damage, but also amazed that the stake driver hadn't caused any damage to the building, Ebrietas' face must had absorbed the force. With one last hope, he pulled out what seemed like a cannon and aimed at the Great One.

…..

Kira was reading up on some history books so that she could understand more of Aiden and try and connect with him, it wouldn't be easy since he was now completely out of his comfort zone. She was going to go down to the kitchen for something to eat when she heard a loud explosion. She looked out her bedroom window and saw smoke rising from the old hospital, soon after bright flashes of light and the building starting to collapse.

" _Oh God, Aiden's there!_ " she thought. She decided to go against Aiden's orders and go to see what was going on. She was about to exit her room when she heard an even louder explosion. She turned back to the window to see the old hospital engulfed in a raging inferno. Fear, panic and worry brought her to her knees. Her parents came up to check on her, worried that the explosions would come their way.

"Aiden." The three of them whispered. Tears came to Mrs West. Mr West and Kira almost went to tears as well, that is before the man they were crying for came flying through the window.

"Hi everyone, sorry I'm late, but I've new information!" exclaimed Aiden. He was about to tell them about what happened when the smoke coming of his body set off the fire alarms. The sprinkling water washed off all the ash and doused the remaining smoke. The mourning family felt uplifted again, and ran to him and hugged him.

"Sorry to worry all, anyway, I've new information… um, I think your grip there is getting a little to strong." Aiden felt the air in his now crushing lungs leave his body.

" _I appreciate their love and concern, but can they loosen their grip a bit. Ugh, help me!" he thought._

 _Author's note: Apologies for the delay, I was a bit busy. Hope you enjoyed this chapter._


	5. Surprise Party

Aiden filled them in on what happened at the old hospital. He made it his first priority to tell them that Mr West was immune to the blood, which meant that they were allowed out of the house (he saw Kira's eyes light up with joy, despite her best attempts to hide it) and there was no fear of the scourge spreading to this time and place.

"Not yet anyway. I recommend you keep a sharp eye out for anything strange." Aiden said.

"So, besides from giant aliens, what do we need to look out for?" Kira asked.

"You would most likely extremely moody people and individuals who speak with an accent similar to my own. Also, make sure to look for a blind, grey haired man, he's the one planning to recreate the scourge."

"Who is this monster?" asked Mrs West.

Aiden explained, feeling a great punch of regret with the guilt. "His name is Father Gaisgoine, a priest from a different church to the healing church. He moved to Yharnam sometime before the scourge occurred, but when it did, he signed up as a hunter. He was… is good at it. I learned about him through one of his daughters, who asked me to look for him and his wife, who had also gone off to look for him.", he pulled out a music box. "The sound from this music box was stong enough to bring Gaisgoine back from the bloodlust, but the wife, Viola, had forgotten it. I was asked to give it to her.

"So, you were a city handyman; gave you a bit of a break, huh?" Kira said.

"Yes, but only shortly. I found Gaisgoine hacking away at some corpses. The bloodlust had already gotten to him. I was amazed with his fighting skill, but I was rather shocked when the blood finished warping him. He turned into a giant, wolf, humanoid monster, faster, stronger, but more reckless. I did my best to end his suffering as painlessly as possible. I looked around the area I found them in and found Viola's corpse."

Mr and Mrs West had looks of shock on their face, at the story and that he was able to survive such violence and emotional pain. Kira, however, tilted her gaze from him and had tears running down her face. She looked up again.

"What happened then?" she asked.

"Feeling it was my responsibility, I found a piece of jewellery on her corpse, and brought it back to the daughter. She was in tears herself, and later, when I returned to check the level of beasts in the area, I found her dead in the sewers below, along with who I believe was her sister, the blood scents matched with Gaisgoine's. It seemed the loss of their parents was too much." Aiden finished.

He finished the tale with his guilt feeling heavier than ever. "Now it seems he's come back, and the blood has twisted his mind enough that he is now wishing to bring back the scourge. Of course, now he has me standing in his way."

"So he and this Ebrietas beast are working together to destroy the world?"

"To be honest, I'm just as confused as you are. Ebrietas is the only Great One that wants to co-exist with humans. I'm happy that one of them thinks that way. Unfortunately, she recognised me as a threat, most likely due to the scent of the hunter off me, and only one of us could come out alive." Aiden stood up from his seat. "I would understand that she would be out to finish the job, but her working with Gaisgoine proves that something more sinister is going on, if she's willing to hurt other humans.."

Kira laid back in her chair. "How long until we see them again?" she asked.

"A few weeks I estimate." Aiden replied.

"In that case, can I ask you something?"

"Of course sister."

Kira also stood up. "Since you want to try and adapt to modern life, and since you've a break now…" she held out an envelope. "Do you want to come to the graduation party?"

Aiden was surprised. He, as one can easily guess, not a sociable person, and a lot of the people who live hear think of him as very odd. While he is appreciative of Kira's efforts, he can tell it might not be a good idea.

"I would recommend giving that invitation to someone else."

"I can't, you're name's engraved into it."

Aiden found himself in a tricky situation. He turned to his parents, hoping for some advice. He could tell they were happy they could help out their son.

"Go on, have some fun." Mr west exclaimed.

"It could be a lot of fun, you could make some great friends." Mrs West pointed out.

" _Damn!_ " thought Aiden. After a few seconds, he breathes in deeply and then sighed a long sigh of defeat. "How do you wish me to prepare?"

"Wear a nice suit and bring a drink." Kira said. She suddenly regretted saying that last part when he pulled out a ceramic, corked bottle. Un-corking lit created a pungent odour that nearly brought the family to their knees.

"Will a pungent blood cocktail do, all the beasts were mad for it." said Aiden.

….

Aiden was staring at himself in the mirror, wearing a new tuxedo. He was amazed how well he looked in it, but he was annoyed with the amount of time it took. Kira insisted on helping him find a suit, which he appreciated, but she helped him at such a slow rate he was half wishing he was up against another blood-starved beast.

"So, now that we made you a fine hunter of women, let's work on your dancing." Kira said.

Aiden spun back with a look of surprise and shock on his face. "Dancing! I'm a hunter not a performer, woman; if I am to preforms such nonsense than I will have to find a way to excuse myself before it."

Kira rolled her eyes. It seems men, she thought, were just as stubborn as they are now.

"Aiden, it's part of a party these days. I'd say it's a tradition right about now. Everyone is going to dance, for different reasons, no stage, by the way. I promise." She could see Aiden relaxing from hearing that.

"So, what's next on your list?" Aiden asked.

Instead of answering, Kira grabbed him by the collar and yanked him out of the room. While he was trying to escape his sisters surprisingly strong grip, he had failed to notice an abnormality. His hunter coat still had blood on it, and in was a moving Father Gaisgoine, with a dark, wicked smile on his face.

…

The party was something that left Aiden purely speechless. Every graduate in the area were partying their hearts out. All the men were in similar attire to him, only they all either stuffed their ties into their pockets or their jackets hung up on a coat rack near the entrance. The part was held in the high school gym hall, a huge separate building from the main school building. There were tables covered in bowls of snack foods, lights everywhere, music being played from an automatic device; It was spectacular. He was, however, disappointed in that there was indeed a stage. Hopefully, no one will ask for any performances from him.

"HEY!" called out Kira.

Aiden turned to her and saw she was wearing a burgundy dress, most likely made out of some velvet-like material. The skirt went down as far as her ankles. Her arms, chest and half her back were exposed, leaving the scar for all to see. Aiden was a little nervous that such exposure would lead to her being abducted again. Then again, she was surrounded by all of her friends, so she would be safe.

"Hey there." came a voice.

He turned to find Jack spike and the rest of Kira's friends behind him, all smiling and nervous. He saw Shauna, who was the most nervous of the group. In his mind, Aiden cursed himself, thinking that Shauna would have no doubt told them of what happened during Aiden's activities as The Hunter. He tried to keep a calm, relaxed face while he let them proceed with their introduction.

"First of all, Shauna told us about what happened, so don't act like you don't know what we're going to talk about next." Jack took a brief pause and then did something was not expecting. Jack held out his hand as one would when wishing to shake with another. Aiden was astonished, but he took it nonetheless, glad he has made a new ally in this world.

"Thank you." Shauna said, nearly in a whisper.

Aiden gave her a brief smile before Conner came up to him. "How are you able to fight so well? What is your method of creating your weapons? Who trained you to fight?" he would have continued if Bridget had not slapped him in the back of the head. She gave him a brief glance, then grinned in a way that showed a rather inappropriate desire.

"Bridget, stop!" Julie said. She always gets annoyed at Bridget when she does something that she knows she shouldn't do. She then came up to Aiden, gave a long apology so quickly it was like rapid-fire.

Aiden was amazed with this group. They were far more interesting than any fight with any Yharnam monster. He couldn't help himself but chuckle a little bit. He was rather impressed that anything could make him laugh anymore, as he believed his sense of humour had been ripped out of him. As he began to indulge in conversation, he wasn't able to sense what was afoot.

…

Kira was hiding behind a corner, watching Aiden having a great time talking with her friends. She thought she just might succeed in saving him. She was about to go and join them when her eyes came across something strange. A dog had been sitting in the same spot for ages. She also saw that some of its skin had rotted away. It took a few seconds, but it clicked that the dog might be infected with the blood.

She quickly made it to the group. "Hey guys, mind if I talk to Aiden privately for a bit, please?"

"Aw, come on, he was telling us about his fight with the monsters." Connor said. Kira was taken back by this, and then stared at Aiden.

"Don't look at me, your friend Shauna spilled the beans on me." Aiden said.

Kira was about to blow, seeing as their meeting only lead to him remembering more about his past, but it seemed that this is what was needed. She sighed with defeat and yanked him away. With her friends complaining behind them, She discretely aimed her thumb at the dog. Aiden's peripheral vision saw the dog, then made his way towards it. He was stopped by a hand, one that belonged to a man in a dark tuxedo, grey hair and pale, drawn skin, and a pair of black, lensed glasses.

"Pardon me sir, but could you help me to find the toilet please?" said the blind man.

Kira was a little concerned about being delayed with the dog, but Aiden was more concerned that a well disguised Gaisgoine had known he would be here in a well populated area.

Aiden had led Gaisgoine to the perfect location to recreate the beast plague.


	6. Bloody Agony

Aiden was horrified that he had practically led Gascoigne to a well populated area, and the fact that were so many rebellious, soon-to-be college students here, he could just imagine how feral they will be if they became infected (he allowed himself a brief chuckle in his mind before returning to the topic at hand). It was a rookie mistake, one that he should have learned from.

"Please sir, will you help me?" Gascoigne asked.

"Very well sir." Aiden replied. He put on an impressively good, fake smile. He turned to Kira, tilting his head towards the dog. She nodded in response. She paced towards that direction, but she was becoming more nervous at having to deal with something Aiden's past. However, she sucked it up and followed the dog.

Her friends, however, saw them both leave. They immediately became suspicious.

"Where are they going? Who was Aiden with there?" said a curious Jack.

"Don't know, and what's a blind, old man doing at a place like this. There's defiantly something fishy going on here!" exclaimed Connor.

"You'll look for any excuse to wear your Sherlock Holmes costume, won't you?" asked Julie.

Connor ignored her, gave a brief smile then turned to Shauna to ask her opinion. He saw her lost in thought. "That man looked like a guy I read about in an old book. He was a priest who fought in the beast plague hundreds of years ago." She explained.

"THE BEAST PLAGUE!? That's a myth… right?" Jack had a nervous expression on his face. They all stared at each other for five seconds before they all ran off in directions. Connor and Shauna went after Aiden while everyone else decided to go after Kira.

….

Aiden let his face drop as and Gascoigne had decided to give him his maniacal leer.

"Don't even think about infecting this school, if you do, I won't hesitate to cut through anyone to get to you. Also, how did you really convince Ebrietas to join you?"

Aiden had waited for an answer for six seconds that is until he smelled the scent of blood behind him. He spun and saw shadow enemies, beings who hide their features via black cloaks. He was holding a sword in one hand and a candle in the other. He appeared to be inhaling a lot of air. Aiden remembered this attack and threw Gascoigne in front of him as a human shield. Before Gascoigne could register what was going on, he was already suffering from the flames.

He leaped at the figure and grabbed a hold of his head. Still engulfed in flamed, he tore the figure to shreds with his bare hands; the flames were quickly extinguished after he was finished. He turned towards Aiden, his face splattered with blood and a homicidal grin on his face.

"You will suffer for that trick!" he whispered. With that, blood began to ooze from all the pours in his body, cloaking him in crimson, a maniacal laughter arising from within. There was a brief moment of silence. Aiden used this brief moment to quickly equip an old katana and his pistol. He had equipped his gear just in time, as the cocoon Gascoigne created had burst open. What came out was different to the monster that was within.

A giant humanoid wolf in coat and slacks stood where Gascoigne had stood. The monster rushed at an incredible speed towards the Hunter. Aiden only had a brief moment to evade Gascoigne, which he made count. The attack, however, created a shockwave that made an enormous hole in one of the walls, and also sent Aiden a good twenty feet through the air. Gascoigne was going to use this opportunity to finish Aiden, his eyes now literally glowing with bloodlust. He was so caught up in the final attack that he didn't notice the cocky grin that Aiden was making while in the air.

Aiden made a mid-air summersault, gaining a quick recovery and aimed his pistol straight at Gascoigne's head. He pulled the trigger, and the bullet rocketed into Gascoigne's left eye. This stunned Gascoigne long enough to perform the same visceral attack he used on Kira's attacker. His hand was buried within the monster's chest, causing blood to pour out of Gascoigne like a fountain. Aiden gave himself a grin of grim pleasure, before ripping it out, tearing through one of the beast's lungs.

All was quiet at last. Aiden slumped to the ground, wishing Gascoigne a peaceful rest within his mind. No matter what he had become, he was once human, and a fellow hunter. As he was about to leave, his nose caught a peculiar scent. Gascoigne's blood had smelled quite differently compared to their first fight. It was sweet, but also as pungent as a sewer. Aiden suddenly felt the adrenaline flow through him again as he realised what was going on.

Gascoigne's beast corpse began to seizure violently, howls of pain, anger and insanity escaped from him, as the wounds that Aiden inflicted began to heal rapidly. When the injuries were gone, the beast was back on his feet, and making his way towards Aiden even more quickly than before.

" _This is going to take a while._ " thought Aiden. He bared his teeth and sprinted for the kill.

…

Kira had tailed the infected dog for quite a while. Personally, she was hoping to find out something soon, in case her friends began to question what was going on. Luckily, she saw the dog walking into an old, abandoned house. She had heard of this house; supposedly, this was the home of a man who lost his mind after the death of his child, and chose to join him, but he brought his wife with him. No one has dared come near the house since then.

Kira felt shivers down her back simply from the thought of the legend. However, that wasn't going to stop her from doing what Aiden asked for her; in the short amount of time she got to know him, she could tell he was trustworthy, despite being incredibly frightening in his serious moments, and when he asks someone to do something, the reason is important enough to see it to the end.

She walked slowly and silently towards the house, unsure of what to expect. As she got closer, she could hear noises within. She managed to make it to one of the rear windows, and she managed to see what was going on. She saw a figure in a black cloak walking around a small laboratory setup. There was a crimson liquid oozing out of a tap into a beaker. The figure picked it up with a pale, bony hand, wiry figures wrapping around the formula. She expected him to do something like drink it or feed it to a test subject, but instead she witnessed him place the beaker back at the tap and walk off into the room next door. She waited until she was sure he was gone, and then searched for an entry point. She chose to look for somewhere other than into the lab, as the figure was right next door.

Fortunately, she found an open window into a bathroom. She found it a little bit difficult to climb through, her dress was causing some obstruction with her mobility. She managed to climb through without damaging the dress. As she was about to continue on, her eyes came across a blood-stained shower curtain, which led her to making the mistake of pulling it back. She managed to keep herself from alerting the cloaked figure, but she still suffered from the mental trauma of seeing two mutated bodies of teenagers, a boy and a girl. She fell to her knees from the shock, feeling like she was about to vomit.

When she recovered, she made her way out to begin her search. As Kira made her way through the house, she heard a struggle occur from one of the other rooms; with little time to spare, she made her way into a nearby cupboard, where she had a good view of the lab, and the horrific events to come.

…..

Gascoigne was even faster than before, giving Aiden very few windows of opportunity. Whatever concoction that Gascoigne had most likely ingested was, it made him powerful enough to take on the Orphan of Kos with ease. Aiden speculated that it was a modified version of the blood. While this definitely proved to be Aiden's greatest challenge:-

-That's what made it all more entertaining.

Gascoigne moved backwards in a scuttling motion, apparently needing a breather. Aiden used this opportunity to activate the power of his katana, or as it was better known as, the "Chikage". He holstered his pistol and grabbed the blade of the Chikage with his free hand, quickly after, dragged the blade across his hand, the blood flooding the blade, extending its length and sharpening the blade than can be even possible for a sword. The blade was so long that he had to hold it with two hands.

When the blade was fully formed, Gascoigne sprang back into action, more feral than before now that Aiden has upgraded his arsenal. Gascoigne flailed his hands, his claws almost coming in contact with Aiden, trying to attack even with his hound-like fangs. Gascoigne proved to be the fastest enemy Aiden has come across, but in the end, even this new power wasn't enough to do Aiden any harm. Aiden managed to evade a right hook and slipped in behind him.

"My turn!" stated Aiden. Aiden proved to be incredibly skilled; he swung the blade, striking home every time he did so. The accelerated healing was still keeping Gascoigne alive, but Aiden considered it an opportunity to cause as much pain as possible before finishing him off. Interestingly enough, when the blade was transformed, the blade would drain his blood a different rates depending on how he used the blade, but it still drains him of his blood to keep the blade active. However, it seemed the blade was draining Gascoigne's blood. When the blade hit home and it tasted his blood, it would soak into the blade. Not only did it reduce the amount of blood being drained from Aiden, but it seemed to empower the Chikage even further.

Both back stepped at incredible lengths, each taking their chance to take a breather. Aiden couldn't help but smirk, Gascoigne was starting to wear down. With this in mind, he came up with an idea. He rushed towards his opponent at great speed, briskly drawing a small mace from his coat.

Gascoigne saw The Hunter coming at him with a mace that seemed more like a tooth-pick. He bared his beastly claws, preparing to tear The Hunter in one strike. When he was in arm's length, he lunged out at him with as much force as possible. Unfortunately for him, Aiden dodged, and impaled the tiny mace into his abdomen. He grabbed Aiden by the throat with his other hand, slowly lifting him towards his face, starting to crave his blood. As his jaws opened as far as they will go, he suddenly felt an incredibly sharp pain go through him. He also felt the life drain from him at a fast pace. He looked down to see the handle of the mace extend rapidly; it looked as if there was an incredibly long spear buried beneath his flesh.

"Well, Gascoigne, looks like your new blood isn't quite as useful as you thought." Exclaimed Aiden, triumph and madness sprawled across his face. He pulled out a throwing knife and impaled Gascoigne's hand, releasing the grip. As Aiden landed, he stepped back and watched as the "Bloodletter" drained Gascoigne of every last drop of tainted blood, as Gascoigne tried in vain to rip the weapon out of the lower half of his body. Aiden was surprised to see the spiked grow out of his body.

Aiden decided to put the creature out of his misery. He walked towards him, grabbed the handle of the Bloodletter and tore it from Gascoigne. After the removal, all that was left of Gascoigne was a pile of flesh and blood. All that was really left intact was his head. It reverted to its human form, and the head said one last thing before he finally died.

"I was the beginning … You are the end."

With that, Father Gascoigne breathed his last. His last words troubled Aiden, what was he supposed to be the end of. He gazed upon his blood soaked hands, wondering whether it means his mind will finally break, or if he was to become something even worse than what he just thought. He saw something beside the remains, a picture. He picked it up and looked at it, instantly recognising the person in it.

It was Kira, with blood on her hand and mouth, with the same twisted look of frenzy as those affected with the blood.


	7. Revelation

Connor and Shauna had lost Aiden as they tried to follow him. It was as if he was making sure that no one was following him. Still, if there was any chance of learning what is really going on, then Aiden would be their best source of information.

"I just realised… When we find him, what will we actually do? If he is involved, can we just ask straight up what he knows? What if he tries to-", she began to shudder from a rising terror, as if a cold hand was reaching out to grab her,"-keep us quiet?"

Connor turned to him with a smile on his face.

"If Kira trusts him, then there's no need to worry. Besides, if there is something going on, I think Aiden's concern is trying to keep us safe. At least, that's what I think." He let out a brief chuckle, mainly wanting to lift Shauna's spirit.

Shauna, however, was unconvinced. They ventured forward, unsure of what to do, as well as hoping to find some answers.

They were given a lead at the sound of screeching beast, as if it were being torn to shreds, and the spine chilling sound of tearing flesh and swift blade movement. Connor deduced that something like a katana is being used.

"This way, quickly!" whispered Connor.

…

Jack, Julie and Bridget had trouble keeping up to Kira. When she wanted to, she was a master of stealth. They were lucky enough to come across an old house, something that Kira wouldn't be afraid to investigate.

However, these three were nothing but afraid.

"I can't believe we're doing this!" said Bridget. "Kira's able to look after herself, can't we just listen?"

Jack gave her a stern look. "I'm scared too, but she's are friend, we need to help keep her safe. All for one and one for all, right?"

"You finally read the musketeers. I owe you twenty bucks." Julie gave Jack a brief smile before going back to analysing the house. There was the feint smell of something rotten emerging from the house, a lack of dust surrounding the windows, and there were traces of shadows appearing from time to time.

She knew she was no Sherlock Holmes, not yet anyway, but there was definitely someone, or something, in the house.

Her confirms were confirmed when a scream radiated from the house. They all looked at each other briefly, before putting their fear aside and rushing towards the house. They came to the side of the house. Luckily, they had a window they could look in through. Julie volunteered to scan the inside. She saw what looked like a laboratory, it included what seemed like a mess of blood and guts, like the scene of a bad horror film.

Julie was surprised, but wasn't fazed. She was about to report what she saw, but her throat began to dry as she saw what happened next.

…

Aiden was beyond confused. The girl in the picture looked exactly like Kira, but he cannot accept that it is actually her. It looked as if the blood got to her, but she has immunity. The fact that it didn't make sense was driving him into another fit of rage. His ears picked up the sound of footsteps, to which he reacted with a throwing knife to 5cm to this persons head.

It turned out that that person was Kira's friend Connor. He couldn't tell who was more frightened from that move, him or Connor. He rushed over to help him.

"Connor, by God, I'm sorry, I-"

"Calm down!" Connor said quickly. "With all the weird stuff going on here, it's only natural that a skilled warrior like yourself is on your toes." Connor said all this with a grin that made it look like he hadn't a care in the world. Shauna wasn't as calm.

"How can you say that? He nearly put a hole through your head!" yelled Shauna.

Connor pulled out the knife from the wall and examined it. He showed a brief look of surprise before saying "It would've made a damn fine looking hole too." Shauna simply looked at him like he was mad. She was going to yell at Aiden, however, he was around two metres from them, a look of great concern on his face.

" _What am I the end to?_ " Gascoigne's words rang through him like no tomorrow. " _I intend to end whatever he's planning, but, what if that what he wants. This new blood… It made him stronger, faster, who knows what else it can do. Why am I-"_ Every last part of Aiden's body suddenly went cold and still.

"Oh no, he… clever fool."

Connor and Shauna heard him. Shauna asked "What's wrong?"

Aiden turned back to them, pulling out the cane he used to kill Kira and Shauna's assailants.

"We need to find Kira, also, when we find her, you need to head home to check on everyone in your neighbourhood". He rammed his hand into his pocket, and pulled out what seemed like the paw of a giant wolf. He through it to the two, causing Shauna to scream and Connor to jump. "If anything strange is going on back at your home, squeeze that hand; it will create a roar that even the deaf can hear. It's powerful enough to blast away anything in your path as well, so be careful where you use it."

The two younger teens just looked at each other, but brought themselves back into focus. They gave him a quick nod of understanding.

"Let the hunt continue!"

…..

Kira saw what seemed like a table, only there seemed to be straps on the table, as if to hold something… or someone onto it. She was about to move when she heard the sound of a girl screaming. She quickly covered herself with the table cloth on the table. There was enough of a gap between the bottom of the cloth and the floor so that she could see some of what was going on.

Unfortunately, her eyes met the sight of two cloaked figures trying to haul a young girl, about Kira's age. She recognised her from the party. She was trying her best to escape, but to no avail. When they got to the table, one of the figures grabbed her by the throat and thrusted her onto the table, strapping her arms and legs as well. One of the figures went to another room while another simply stood over her. The girl had terror written all over her, her face, the pale skin, etc.

The first figure returned with a tray of sharp, rusted and blood-stained surgical instruments. Kira suddenly felt short of breath, fear filling her entire body. It was soon well-founded when one of the figures pulled out a sword, and drove the point straight through her sternum. The pain the girl felt was unbearable, if she was able to, she would have screamed at the very top of her lungs, but the blade had also blocked her breathing tube, leaving her struggling for breath.

As the life slowly came out of her body, Kira felt like she was losing consciousness at the same rate. It was difficult for her to watch. When the girl was finally a corpse, the figures, tore off her clothes and began cutting a lot of veins and arteries, causing blood to quickly leak out of her. Kira had to use every last part of her will power to avoid vomiting. As the figures were just finishing up, one of them began moving his head side to side, as if he had just noticed something. His head slowly began to move towards Kira's direction, causing her heart to beat so fast, one could dance to the beat.

Before he could pinpoint Kira, a loud, bloodcurdling scream erupted from outside the house. The figures ran outside to find and eliminate whatever made that noise. As they went out the front door, Kira heard the back door open a couple of seconds later. To her horror, she saw Bridget and Jack racing into the room. When they saw the corpse, and how it was mutilated, they were nearly brought to their knees from the horrific sight. Bridget did her best to keep the rising bile down. When she succeeded, she looked around the room to see if Kira was there.

Kira soon revealed herself," What are you guys doing here!?" she whispered. The response was a groan from Jack and jumping from Bridget. They joined Kira under the table and explained how they followed her. They told her how Julie made a recording of her screaming (which was meant to be used for the next Halloween party) to attract the attention of the men in black. Julie herself decided to go back to the school to find Aiden and the rest of their friends.

"You guys are nuts" said Kira.

"So are you" said Jack while grinning. "You went into this freak-show of a house without help. Heck, going into this place at all was stupid."

"What were they doing with that girl" asked Bridget. The shock was still visible in her face, as was the case for Kira and Jack. No person should have to suffer and to be mutilated as she was. Kira decided to take another glimpse at the fresh corpse. A mix of deep grief and fury was flowing through her, wanting now, more than ever, to stop whatever this Gascoigne is planning.

She heard the door burst open, they made sure that the tablecloth on the table kept them out of sight. It was a bit uncomfortable, but it was better than getting caught. The figures returned, making noises that sounded like heavy breathing and growling. One took an empty glass and smashed it on the ground. After he had calmed down, he checked on the corpse. It was now completely drained of blood. He then went to a cupboard and took out an old looking box, almost completely covered in rust. He opened it and took out two vials of blood. One was labelled "The old Blood".

The other. "The Hunter's blood".

" _The hunter… Do they mean Aiden?_ " Thought Kira. Suddenly it dawned on Kira what was going on.

" _During my time as a hunter, I was unable to contract the disease, so I could use them freely without changing, and have somehow managed to build immunity to it now._ "

With Aiden's blood, they could use the old blood to its fullest. Without the mind warping side effects. The ultimate weapon.

The figure proceeded to cover the girl in dirty bandaged and, after they had finished, prepared two syringes. One soon contained the old blood, while the other was filled with Aiden's blood. The figure prepared the first syringe and injected the contents. There was nothing but silence for exactly 15 seconds.

The silence was then broken when the girl sprung to life. She swung her arms in multiple directions, attempting to keep any threats away. Her hand caught the second figure, grasping the figures arm and, shockingly, proceeded to toss the figure towards a wall like a ragdoll. The figure went head-first into the wall, completely crushing the skull and whatever contents were within.

The first of the cloaked men grabbed her neck, slammed her back onto the table and injected her with the second syringe. He backed away quickly, watching and waiting for what Kira had suspected.

Seven seconds later, the girl had calmed down. She slowly looked around the room, frightened and confused. She looked at her arms, noticed the bandaged and tore them off, revealing numerous, ugly and deep cuts. As she began screaming, the figure pulled out a sword from his cloak.

Kira watched in horror as he decapitated her in one powerful swing of the dirty blade.

As her head rolled away, the only part of Kira could move was her eyes, as they followed the girl's head. Her bile was rising and her blood was freezing, panic beginning to rise as tears began to gather in her eyes. It took all her willpower to not make a sound.

Now more than ever, she wished Aiden was here.

….

Aiden, now having fully regained his persona as The Hunter, left the school and party without anyone noticing him. When he was sure he was alone, he organised himself, deciding to equip the blunderbuss and the Stake Driver. While the explosive effect was a good bonus, it was just as useful as a regular blade. Luckily, it hadn't received much damage from his fight with Ebrietas.

He spent a few minutes rushing at inhuman speed around different areas to find any trace of the beasts.

Unfortunately, he hadn't found any clues. He wasn't happy that he was left without any leads to getting closer to the truth.

"If they think they can use my blood for their psychotic experiments, they are sorely mistaken." He said to himself.

"Talking to yourself is a sign of madness, you know."

Aiden span around and aimed the blunderbuss towards the direction of the voice. What he saw was a person dressed in a small witch's hat, a crow-like mask and black feathered cape, along with a purple uniformed and faded boots and gloves.

Combined with that voice, Aiden knew it was his acquaintance, The Hunter of Hunters, Eileen the crow.

"We lived in a world of madness, remember. It was the "Norm" at the time." responded Aiden.

Eileen chuckled. "True enough. Speaking of which, does it get boring, the lust of the bloodshed."

"You know that wasn't the case with me."

"Not yet." Eileen flashed a short sword, the Blade of Mercy, the iconic weapon of the Hunters of Hunters. "Keep in mind, no one is immune to the bloodlust."

In a blink of his eyes, the vision of Eileen disappeared. He shook his head. The sooner these visions ended, the better.

He was about to proceed when he felt someone bump into his back. He spun around to see that it was Kira's friend Julie.

"Are you alright Julie?" he asked.

"No, we found an old house with cloaked guys inside. We found out that Kira was headed in the direction of the house and… "

"Don't tell me you went in." Aiden gave her a cold stare.

"Jack and Bridget went in, I came to get you to help."

"Bring me to that house." Julie stood still for a few seconds, slowly nodding her head in understanding.

"Good, now let's move."

They had only made five steps each when they heard the shriek of a girl in the distance. Aiden removed his weaponry and shot towards the sound. Julie shivered as she knew that came from the direction of the house.

" _Please… please let us get there in time…"_


	8. Blood Drive

Kira was left feeling unimaginable terror. The beings in front of them seemed to have no sense of morality. Either they weren't born with it, or it was completely ripped out of their very hearts. Usually, she was able to keep calm during tense situations, strangely, but all that she witnessed has finally broken whatever conviction drove her. She would've broke down into tears had it not meant revealing their presence to the cloaked figure.

Jack and Bridget just remained silent, waiting for their friend to make the next call, but they could sense that she wasn't in her usual frame of mind. As such, Jack and Bridget decided to formulate their own plans. Granted, they felt that ideas might not work as well as they would like, but given their options, they were left with no choice.

"Okay… I've an idea." whispered Jack to his friends. " I grabbed a rock outside a while in case we needed it, if I throw it right, we can distract him and make a run for it."

"Or… we can wait until he's gone instead of driving him insane!" replied Bridget, also whispering.

"We don't have that time, what if he catches us."

"Catching his attention will put him into a shoot-to-kill mode; we'll be dead before we can even blink."

Realising they would be arguing for too long over what they should do, they just gave up. Unknown to them, Kira had formulated her own plan.

No one is going to like it.

Kira burst out from under the table at last. This automatically caught the attention of the figure, drawing its sword from within its cloak. The creature was as attentive as Kira's friends were beyond horrified at her actions. Both were unable to move as they saw their friend throw herself into a dangerous situation.

"You kill me… you lose your best chance of finishing your little project!" Kira stated, her confidence flowing back into her system.

The creature relaxed briefly, becoming confused at her statement.

"I share the blood of The Hunter, it's not in the same form as his at the moment, but this gives you an opportunity to make any new… adjustment you want. I give you this in exchange for the safety of the people here."

The figure had listened intently, gaining interest in the idea of a new template for the master's conquest. The figure moved slowly towards her, raising the razor sharp blade to her throat, thinking it had her in its grasp. However, there was one thing the figure didn't consider.

That being if she was related to The Hunter, she might be able to fight back.

Kira quickly grabbed the figures sword hand with one of her own hands, while using the other to send a powerful fist into the figures skull. It only managed to disorient him, but his grip loosened on the sword. Kira used the opportunity to grab the sword by the blunt end and yank it from this monster. She adjusted how she held the sword, using both hands on the handle, raising high into the air before delivering a devastating blow to the creature, slicing through its head and half way down the torso. Kira released her grip on the sword, allowing the creature to topple to the ground. She took a few steps back, registering what had happened, realising she had done exactly what she wished to protect her brother from doing ever again.

She decided not to focus too much on it. Hesitation, in this case, will lead her and her friends to death. She turned to her friends swiftly.

"We have to move, we need to find Aiden" she turned away only have a hand grasp one of her wrists. She turned back to see her friends who had concerned looks on their face.

"You okay" asked Bridget, who kept a strong grip on her friends wrist.

There was silence in the whole room. However, it was soon broken when heavy breaths were soon emitted from Kira.

"No… but now's not the time to worry."

The friends decided to let the subject drop, despite being incredibly worried for their friend.

As they were leaving, Bridget noticed something unusual about the formerly resurrected corpse. The blood, instead of leaking out of her, was rising back into the lacerations on her body. Kira and Jack noticed this as well after they looked back for her.

So far, it wasn't the unusual issue they had seen so far, what was the most unusual thing and horrifying problem was when the headless body sat straight up on the table. The corpse got off the table slowly and found its head. The body placed the severed head onto the neck, where the veins, arteries and capillaries began to come alive and re-attach themselves.

The girl removed the bandages. She turned to the trio, revealing a portrait of third degree burns and vicious scars. Jack looked like he was about to throw up like a fountain. This feeling had soon disappeared when the face began to re-shape. The scars and burns healed miraculously, her hair growing and changing into a crimson red. When the healing was finished, the Girl had long, crimson hair that shined in the light and reached down to her knees. Her face was slightly pale and, apparently, quite smooth. Her eyes were large and as red as her hair.

The trio were shocked by what they had seen, it was a complete transformation of the girl that had died twice, reborn by blood.

Kira turned back to her friends, Bridget seeming shocked and jealous of her new beauty, while Jack seemed to become rather attracted to her. Kira turned back to the girl. Reaching out her hand, her hand, she asked "Hey, are you okay… What's your name?"

The girl tilted her head towards the hand, soon after tilting it towards Kira's face. The pupils in her eyes soon changed into frightening slits and she screamed at a pitch so high that most of the glass in the room shattered, forcing the trio to crouch down for protection. When it was finished, they looked up to see the girl baring actual fangs, and she looked hungry.

…..

Aiden hadn't run this quickly since he tried to outrun the giant pigs in the Nightmare Realm. It wasn't so much their incredibly grotesque appearance, more so that they could run much more quickly than any beast he has faced before, making it difficult to fight. He felt jealous that giant pigs weighing more than the cars he had been seeing around the village lately could run that quickly, and he couldn't.

Nonetheless, he strived to reach the source of the scream. Having still beaten the record of any Olympic sprinter, he located the source of the scream. An old house with a light illuminating from the inside now stood before him. As he moved closer, his ears picked up the sound of someone crying. Thinking it was a hostage; he readied the cane and old pistol, and moved to the front door.

He waited for a few seconds before he decided to pick the lock with a piece of old wire. He unlocked the door and moved into the house, managing to make no noise as he moved like a panther after its pray. He came to an opening that lead to a room which, unfortunately, had a tail of blood leaking from it. This was the room where the crying was coming from.

He decided to forgo the stealthy approach and face the possible threat inside. He rolled into the room with lightning reflexes, aiming his pistol as soon as he was upright. His eyes met Kira and her friends Jack and Bridget, who were trying to defend themselves with shards of glass from another girl their age, with a bloody hunger in her eyes.

Kira whirled around, hoping to find a better weapon, where she found Aiden with his pistol drawn.

"Aiden!"

"Am I interrupting something?" he asks casually.

The hungry girl heard The Hunter, turning to him, she stopped and sniffed the air, catching onto a scent. She bared her fangs once more and leapt towards The Hunter. He put his weapons away and chose to handle her hand to hand. He rolled onto his back and brought his feet into the air. The vampiric girl landed on the soles of his shoes and was launched higher into the air, after Aiden pushed her back with all his might, crashing through the walls and ceiling of the house.

Aiden rolled back up and made his way to the outside of the house where his opponent now waited. The teenagers were in a state of awe from seeing Aiden's speed and reflexes. Kira was the first to return to her senses, running head on towards where the battle would continue.

"Wha-, are you CRAZY!?" yelled Jack

"Probably" replied Kira, only half listening. She was already outside; left without any other option, her friends followed her out.

Aiden was busy dealing with his new opponent. It was an interesting case, the girl used her fingernails like claws, even though the whole of her hands were more than capable of doing severe damage. They broke through the debris of the house with ease when Aiden launched a piece at her, it blew into pieces when she struck it as one would when swatting a fly. Unsure of where this confidence was brimming from, Aiden was actually thankful for it.

If it didn't impair her judgement, it would certainly make for an interesting fight.

She bared her nails and raced towards her target, but Aiden swiftly dodged the attack with a sidestep to his left, quickly ducking when she swung at his head, and stepped back when she attempted an uppercut to his jaw. The Hunter smiled through the whole thing.

"My turn." He pulled out a short sword that, after grabbing the blade and twisting it, separated into two daggers. He sprinted to the vampires, trying his best to strike her, but she was proving to be as evasive as him. This was only temporary, as he began to gain more speed the more he moved. He managed to land a few small hits to her arms, a swift laceration to her left shoulder, and finally managed to impale one of the daggers into her neck. He removed the dagger and stepped back, thinking that would finish the job, but instead watched as the wounds began to heal in a matter of seconds. You wouldn't think there was any damage done to her before, it was a perfect recovery.

Aiden finally gave up his smile, seeing how it was the same kind of healing Gascoigne had acquired and made use of in their recent fight. He put the daggers back together, into what was known as the "Blade of Mercy", and put it back into his coat in exchange for the Chikage. He was thinking of impaling the sword into her heart and let the Chikage absorb her blood. It wasn't necessary to use the Bloodletter to tear her apart like it did with Gascoigne… he hoped.

Before he could take up a stance, he noticed the girl's eyes change from the crimson red orbs with slits to a regular blue with more pupils. The girl no longer had fury in her face, instead looking confused.

"Where am I?" she asked, as if she had forgotten what had happened. "What's with the get-up and… are you pointing a sword at me!?" she asked, shocked and astonished.

Aiden lowered the sword before replying, "Forgive me, bit when I am fighting against someone who is trying to kill me, I like to come prepared."

The girl grinned, thinking it was some sort of sick joke. "You're joking, right?" she asked. "You're just some kind of weirdo who-" before she could finish, she noticed her nails grow at an unusual rate, becoming claws. Her eyes once again became crimson, but her pupils remained the same. She managed to find a shard of glass and looked at her reflection in it. To say she was shocked would be an understatement, unable to move.

"Would you believe me now?" asked Aiden. The girl was about to respond when the girl gasped at the sight of something behind The Hunter. He spun with the Chikage raised, to be shocked at who he saw.

It was non-other than Father Gascoigne, somehow recovered from being torn to shreds. He was pushing a wheelchair that was seated by a woman who had skin so pale she seemed dead. She had frail, white hair, a formal dress and a helmet covering her face.

Annalise, Queen of the Vile Bloods.

"Impossible." Aiden said, refusing to lose his nerve.

" _Impossibility itself… is the only impossibility… Anything can be achieved, if one is willing to go the distance…"_ The Queen spoke with a voice so cold and frail, so much so that one would definitely be a ghost.

"You were torn to shreds, beyond repair… both of you for that matter."

Gascoigne leered at The Hunter, "We have finally perfected it… blood that will be the ultimate cure, blood that will grant us immense strength… blood that will prove to be the end of you."

"Even though it was my blood you used to gain control over the new formula, didn't anyone ever tell you need to ask permission before you take and use someone's bodily fluids? When did you get it?" The Hunter asked.

"All it took was a trip to the Nightmare Realm, to where the Wet Nurse once rested. Blood stays fresh in that realm, so a small sample wasn't difficult to retrieve enough to create more. Such blood, immune to the effects of the plague… we can final use the blood to its greatest potential… as you can see." he rested one hand on his chest while he reached out at the vampires, now human once more.

Aiden realised he was at a disadvantage. Quick regenerating enemies that were becoming stronger at a ridiculous rate. Thinking of ideas for escape, he eyed as much as he could without changing his stance in the slightest.

All that had transpired was, once again, witnessed by The Hunter's sister, along with two of her now horrified friends. Without much thought, she screamed at the top of her lungs to distract the ragged man and the ancient woman. It worked. As they looked in her direction, Aiden threw two throwing knives with deadly accuracy into Gascoigne's eyes, blinding him, and ran like his life depended on it. Without any real thought, he grabbed the hand of the blood-infected girl, bringing him with her. He yelled at the teenage trio to move, to which they responded by running at the same direction he was.

As Gascoigne was raging in pain, Annalise watched The Hunter and his allies run into the night, knowing they would meet again soon.

" _At long last, The Hunter of the Dream shall finally die… permenately."_


	9. Resolve Renewed

"This… may be a problem."

The group had managed to escape back to the school, which had been evacuated thanks to Connor informing everyone of an immediate danger. Connor was so trustworthy that when he had something important to say, they always listened. For the time being, Aiden had managed to turn it into a make-shift base, and is now currently scouting outside of the school.

"Really Jack, I never would've guessed." replied Bridget, the sarcasm highlighting her growing agitation. The current events were taking their toll on them. To her, she could sense that anyone of them could end up breaking.

Kira, on the other hand, seemed to be taking it very well. Then again, she was always able to stay calm when it was truly required. At the moment, she was trying to comfort their new, vampiric acquaintance. The girl had been crying for some time as she remembered how the cloaked figures had captured her, and how they had taken her life in a fashion so cruel and despicable that she didn't dare speak of it. Kira could see that the girl needed help.

"So… what's your name again?" asked Kira, trying to be as sensitive as possible.

The girl stayed silent for a few seconds before replying.

"My name… is Anna. Anna Connelly."

Kira's eyes widened upon hearing her last name. This girls family was responsible for the recent economic growth in their area, they also do a lot of charity work for the homeless and developing countries. It also made them targets for kidnappers and groups who didn't like all the work they were doing.

"Why would they do this… what do they want!?" cried Anna.

"Power and Revenge, plain and simple." All turned to see Aiden leaning on one of the walls with his arms folded.

He continued. "Gascoigne, Ebrietas and Annalise. Two out of three I took out and the third I had a friend of mine finish her off; I was surprised that she had that much blood and guts inside of her."

"I thought that Ebrietas wasn't like the rest of the great ones." Kira said.

"As did I, but with the Queen of the Vilebloods involved, she probably promised her something that would have her fall like this, in this case, resurrection. It must be how Gascoigne came back too." Explained Aiden.

"Who are those people, and how can she bring back the dead?" asked Jack.

Aiden looked to him with a grin. "Father Gascoigne, a former beast hunter like me who fell into madness and bloodlust, Ebrietas, a cosmic being who was the source of the old blood, and Queen Annalise, the leader of a self-proclaimed faction of royalty that experimented with a severely tainted strain of this blood." he straightened himself up and walked over to Anna.

"Anna here is an example of how their version of the blood can overcome the limits of life. Although, I didn't think she'd get this far in her work. " he looked at her and handed her a bar of chocolate he found on his travels. She nodded in gratitude with a faint smile. He smiled back, before quickly turning and cracking his knuckles. "it Looks like it's going to be a fun night."

Bridget stood up and walked towards the nearest window. Her fists were clenched so tight they were starting to go white. Without warning, she spun around and launch herself at Aiden, who casually caught the fist and flipped her onto the ground, placing his foot on her stomach.

She was surprised from the fast movement, but when she recovered from the shock, she roared at the top of her lungs "YOU DID THIS, YOU BROUGHT THESE MONSTERS!" Everyone was wide-eyed with shock, save for Aiden who knew there was more to come. "YOU LIKE TO THINK YOUR BETTER THAN THE REST OF THEM, YOU DON'T FIGHT, YOU BUTCHER AND SLAUGHTER, YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF US, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE!" she barely managed to get the last few words out as she broke down into tears.

Aiden suddenly heard a familiar scream in his mind, that of an innocent woman who he inadvertedly killed while eliminating a potential threat. Aiden removed his foot and just stood where he was, the scream still ringing in his head, a sudden feeling of shock and grief taking him over.

A loud screech from the distance broke the silence. Before anyone could say anything, Connor rushed into the room with Julie, both looking exhausted.

"Good news… we told our science teacher and the local doctor about what's going on, sorry Aiden, and they think they can take them all out. All they need is a sample of what's causing all this and they can make a cure." Connor said with rapid-fire excitement. "Isn't that great?"

Everyone was wide-eyed once again with excitement and hope, except for Aiden who still wasn't able to move. Julie noticed this. "Are you okay Aiden?"

The screech they heard earlier emitted again, only it sounded like it was getting closer. Connor looked outside and saw that there were two giant beasts; they had antlers, extra-large hands and dark green hair. Connor slowly walked backwards and then turned to Aiden.

"By any chance have you dealt with those before?" Connor asked quickly.

Aiden looked in the direction of the beasts. Without a single word, he just walked over in that direction, with no weapon or firearm equipped. He jumped out the window and landed with a roe, before continuing towards the monsters.

"Aiden c'mon, get a weapon out!" Kira shouted. She couldn't understand what was going on, but it soon clicked.

"NO, AIDEEEEN!" her words had no effect, as she watched both beasts strike Aiden with their enlarged fists, sending him flying into one of the walls. The impact should've killed him, but he still managed to stand, even though it was just barely. He turned to Kira who was watching him.

"MOVE, GET TO A SAFE PLACE NOW!" he roared.

Aiden walked again towards the beasts, staggering. He strike was difficult to withstand, but he would take more if it meant the safety of his sister and her friends.

"Why isn't he fighting, he'll die if he doesn't." Connor stated.

Kira didn't answer, instead sending a cold glare towards Bridget. She turned back in time to see Aiden being lifted into the air by one of the beasts. It looked like it was going to slam him into the ground. The beast would've succeeded. The monster let out a howl of pain, followed by the second beast. The group were confused until they saw what was causing the pain. Anna looked to have gone berserk again, using her claws to slice the beasts without any difficulty. She must have sneaked out if the rest of the group hadn't noticed. She was using incredible speed and strength to slice of the limbs of the beasts, piece by piece. Their entire lower halves were gone by the time she had lost all her energy. Fortunately, the beasts died quickly after from extreme blood-loss.

Anna rushed over to Aiden, who had fallen unconscious. She wrapped one of his arms around the back of his neck and held him by the waist. She had less trouble than expected lifting him.

"Don't worry, you'll be okay." Anna said, worried for him after the beating he had endured.

…

Annalise sat in her chair, contemplating on their next move. Gascoigne was still venting his rage from how the hunter had caught him off-guard again. If she could feel emotion as others would, she would chuckle at the hunter's craftiness. If only he didn't choose the foolish path, else he would have more power than he could ever imagine.

A tentacle had risen behind her, moving up to beside her head. " _My dear Ebrietas… I know you wish no harm upon the hunter, but you know our deal_." The air was filled with a powerful shriek when the tentacle began going red as blood poured out from it. The wound was quickly healed and the tentacle retreated into the darkness.

A strange chill suddenly went up her spine. Her head tilted to the left and her left hand tilted in a certain direction.

" _The Cleric Beasts failed… redeem yourself, my dear_." Annalise said. With lightning speed, Ebrietas' whole body flew out of the building towards the direction of Annalise's hand.

" _He is vulnerable… now is our chance of victory_."

….

Kira has been talking to Aiden as much as possible since Anna saved him from the beasts. What Bridget said seemed to have shaken him to the core; nothing she said seemed to reach him. She decided to give it a rest and made sure Aiden was comfortable before returning to her friends. When she returned, she saw Connor talking to Anna about her power, obviously having incredible admiration, while Julie was shaking her head at his behaviour. Anna didn't seem to mind though, in fact, she seemed grateful.

" _It must be nice…having friends after such a dramatic change, I wonder if she was afraid of rejection?"_ She thought.

Kira decided to check in on Aiden again, and found that he was in the same position he was in before. Not knowing what else to do, she sat beside him and wrapped her arms around his seemingly lifeless form, hoping it will help. Her eyes suddenly became heavy, and decided to rest them for a brief moment. However, before she knew it, she fell into a deep slumber.

…..

 _Kira's eyes snapped open. She looked around to find herself in a small room, seemingly a church room. She counted three people in the room, a man who was grumbling to himself about something, a young woman who was cackling to herself with a demented smile on her face, and some kind of creature in a red cloak, having charcoal skin and blank eyes. He could hear the last…person crying._

" _I just wanted to help people… they all died because of me… we're doomed, there's nothing left for us, I let him down. I failed him." he barely managed to say between the sobs._

" _You didn't fail at anything." came a familiar voice._

 _Kira turned and saw her brother decked out in all of his old hunter attire. He walked in the direction of the being in the red cloak. She reached out to touch him only for her fingers to pass through him. he continued towards the being. When he was right in front of him and knelt down to him, resting one of his hands on, apparently, his companion._

" _You didn't do anything wrong my friend, whatever has been causing the plague and everything else is responsible. Also, you managed to keep the nun and the old fart safe, all isn't lost."_

" _WHAT YOU'D SAY?" yelled the man._

 _The Hunter ignored her and went to check on the nun. He wasn't very good with names but managed to get around it. He noticed her fading mental health and was sure to check on her from time to time, just in case anything was to happen while he was gone._

 _The nun simply smiled at him, apparently pleased to see him… perhaps too pleased. Aiden conversed with her for a few minutes before going outside the church. He spent half an hour patrolling around the church, seemingly un-phased by the giant, spider-like monster hanging off of it. Kira was absolutely terrified when she saw it. Rapidly going back to her brother, she saw him stop outside the church, before hearing blood-chilling screams emitting from inside. He rushed in, stunned at what he saw. The man was disembowelled, his limbs cut off and his eyes and the skin around his head were torn off. The Hunter readied his pistol and cane and looked around the room. His weapons fell out of his now loosened grip upon seeing his cloaked friend who was without his arms and eyes, a large wound was present in his back. He was crying in a fit of fear and pain, which were becoming fainter by the second. He rushed to his friend, horror and panic overtaking him._

" _I'm sorry…, I couldn't save him… I'm so sorry… I can't do anything… I fail everything… forgive me…" he managed to say._

 _The Hunter felt something shatter inside of him. The cloaked companion was the closest thing to a friend he had ever had. He was now forced to watch him die from his wounds and the pain of survivor's guilt._

" _I told you before, you didn't fail, you accomplished something I never could, you were able to protect people when I was only able to kill ." he struggled to focus, his own fear beginning to take over. "I am the real failure."_

 _The companion continued to cry before he finally succumbed to the pain of his wounds. He no longer shed any tears, and nor would he ever say anything again. Kira couldn't help but cry a river of tears upon seeing what had happened, but The Hunter wore a mask of stone. He rose and went to pick up his weapons. He heard a familiar cackle outside the church, to which he slowly walked towards, keeping his neutral expression. Upon reaching a familiar well, he found the nun coming from behind a tombstone, with a knife in hand._

" _They don't deserve you… that wretched creature, that woman, they all tainted you, and now they paid for their crimes."_

" _You killed Arianna." He stated in a cold tone of voice._

" _You gave her more attention than you did me, and she would always offer herself to you, it was sickening. You never came to me, you thought everyone else was more important than me." She stated._

" _Adelle." The Hunter said, remembering the nun's name. "I always came to you when you wanted to talk or anything else. If I seemed to talk to others more, it was because they were all suffering more than you were. I relied on you to help them as well, I relied on you keep moral up with the teachings of your beliefs… I relied on you because you had a good heart." His voice was now as cold as ice._

" _Now… now I realise that there is no room in the world for good. Those that are will either die or will become monsters themselves." He readied his weapons. "And it is my job to kill monsters."_

 _Adelle readied her knife, but it was ineffective when The Hunter swung his cane at his opponent, hitting her arm and severing it from her body. He spun the can in his hand and thrusted it into her stomach. She was in so much pain that she wasn't even able to make a sound. He lifted her into the air, hanging from the cane imbedded in her stomach. He swung her over his head and slammed her face-first into the stone ground, smashing her head into shards of bone and brain._

 _It wasn't enough for him, he sheathed his weapons and continued to beat the corpse with his bare hands, which was followed by him tearing the corpse to pieces with his hands as well. Upon finishing, he was finally satisfied with the kill. He stood up and made his way back into the church and held his hand over a lantern in the centre of the room. He then faded in a pale, bright light, leaving Kira by herself._

 _Such a site was difficult for her to watch. She fell to her knees, buried her face in her hands and cried, she cried at the fact that her brother had slaughtered her in such a vicious method, but it was mainly from seeing for herself what kind of pain he had to endure. She was so caught up in her sadness that she didn't notice the world distorting around her, everything was fading into black._

… _._

Kira woke with a shocked expression on her face. Tears were still streaming down her face. She looked at her brother and soon broke down into sobs, pressing her head into his shoulder. Unknown to her, Aiden came out of his shock. He had also fallen asleep and was forced to relive the events that she had dreamed about. While painful for him, it also served an important purpose.

He remembered he now had a duty. A duty to continue his friends wish, to protect people from the beast plague. He raised his arm and wrapped it around his sister and hugged her tight, silently shushing her and staying by her side.

"You saw what happened, didn't you?" he asked. She nodded in reply.

"It wasn't what you'd call a highlight, but it was a turning point for me. There were still people in the city that needed saving, and I was the only thing left to protect them. The guilt of failing him will haunt me for the rest of my days, but I will continue his wish. I will protect everyone, I promise."

Kira finally calmed down a bit and, seeing her brother's renewed resolve, smiled with hope.

The building began to shake. Aiden was up like a shot and ran towards the source. He found Ebrietas outside the building, seemingly prepared for battle.

"What is this now, our third round? Well, I hope I don't disappoint, m'lady." Aisen said, giving a courteous bow.

Ebrietas launched a beam of energy from her face, to which Aiden quickly pulled out the Stake Driver and released a pre-charged blast from the weapon, destroying the beam. Aiden landed on the ground. He ran with inhuman speed, looking for a weak point to exploit, Suddenly, an idea came to his mind. He replaced the Skate driver with the Bloodletter.

" _If it worked on him, a Great Ones blood should have a similar effect." Aiden thought._

He jumped onto the Great One and impaled her with the mace. Shockingly enough, the spikes grew a lot more quickly. He jumped back onto the ground, narrowly escaping the one of the spikes. He landed with a roll and looked up in time to see the spikes making up most of her form at the moment. He was grinning at his success, which was short-lived. Ebrietas broke the spikes with her tentacles and her wounds quickly recovered. He raised his eyebrows, surprised that it didn't work. He quickly opted for a new strategy. He pulled out the Holy Moonlight Greatsword. He charged the blade into its magical, broad-blade form. /instead of swinging, however, he leaped at her head and impaled it. Ebrietas seemed unaffected, but her eyes widened when she realised what he was trying to do. Aiden kept building up energy into the sword. When it reached a certain point, it caused the sword to shine as brightly as the sun. He transferred all the energy into the Great One. The vast levels of energy were too much for her to handle. Aiden removed the blade and leapt back onto the ground, having enough time to watch her fade away into bright particles of energy. As she faded away, he could've sworn that he heard the sound of a woman's voice, speaking to him.

" _Thank you…"_

When she was finally gone, he turned back to everyone, who were gob-smacked at the level of power that was presented to them.

He pointed his sword at Bridget and said "You're right Bridget, My line of work has casualties, but I'm going to make sure that won't be the issue anymore…deal?" he asked casually. Bridget swallowed and nodded. She was about to give a sincere apology when Aiden raised his other hand and lowered the sword. "Apology accepted."

He turned towards where Ebrietas had stood, a small grin of determination and confidence.

"It's time to end this once and for all." He yelled, his word raised high, prepared for whatever may come.


	10. Defeated

The Vileblood Queen continued to stare into the distance, waiting for Ebrietas to finish her appointed task. She knew The Hunter had bested her before, but she had become much stronger after granting Ebrietas her blood, the combination should be more than enough to over-power the human. All would be coming into place soon.

" _Our life-long goal shall be complete. Soon, we will gain more power than we have ever imagined."_ She said to herself quietly.

"What goal is this?"

Annalise hadn't turned, but she knew it was Gascoigne speaking behind her. He had recovered from the injury dealt from The Hunter, also knowing that now that her and Ebrietas' blood also flowed through his veins it allowed for his eyes to grow back, granting him perfect vision. This vision was something he planned to make use of, ensuring he would see The Hunter dying after he kills him with his own hands. This fury was making him more unpredictable, and was beginning to doubt if he would still work with them.

"Didn't you hear me, you highness?" he asked, after receiving a lengthy pause.

" _Yes… it seems you deserve information, after having done so much already. As you know, we were a splintered group from the Healing Church, going through with experiments that they would've considered blasphemous. One of these experiments was to create a child born of blood."_ she explained.

"A child born… of blood. Has your experiments felt you all brain dead?" he replied. "How can a person be born of blood?"

" _Blood is the very essence of life. It ensures that our bodies, passing oxygen into our bodies. It also can carry power, if power has been imbedded into it. The Hunter, for example." She answered._

Gascoigne looked back at her, confused. She sensed this and continued her explanation.

" _His father was administered the old blood, but only enough so that it would have the desired effect. Not only did it cure his illness, but when his first child was conceived, it passed on the healing properties of the blood, making that child stronger than any human. That child was The Hunter."_

"Do you know who gave the father the blood?" Gascoigne asked.

" _That, I'm afraid, I am still unaware of. Whoever it was, however, did well in creating the perfect weapon against the beasts… and you, apparently." Annalise said._

"That is no longer the situation. Soon, we will have The Hunter, his blood and his head." He said.

" _Don't kill him yet… We need the blood of The Hunter… we need his power to make the child a god."_ She retorted _._

"How can you be sure that this will work?" Gascoigne asked. He stared into the distance, pondering on this uselessness. His mind suddenly flashed back to the girl who had grown claws and lashed out at The Hunter.

"The perfect Blood Weapon." He half-joked.

" _Vileblood blood… Great One blood… The Hunter's blood… a child born with all these qualities will be responsible for the rebirth of the Vilebloods."_ She paused for a moment before finishing _, "and for the possible revival of your wife…"_

Gascoigne straightened and clenched his fists, close to striking the Vileblood queen.

Without warning, an incredibly bright, pale green light emitted from the distance, radiating strong waves of energy and power. It was coming from the building where Ebrietas headed for. The power was enough for Annalise to sit up a slight bit more than she was before.

" _It seems that Ebrietas has fallen… He has grown even stronger than before…"_ she said.

Gascoigne widened his eyes in surprise, as Ebrietas had grown incredibly strong, The Hunter shouldn't have been able to win against her alone this time. His bags of tricks seemed to be increasing.

" _Impossible… That light…"_ said Annalise, realisation dawning on her. " _That was the moonlight sword… Ludwig's weapon."_

"Perhaps the legends of the Hunter's Nightmare aren't so far-fetched." Said Gascoigne in response.

Annalise made a soft growl in anger.

" _CAPTURE HIM NOW!"_

Gascoigne pulled out his axe and pistol, wearing a sadistic grin, not wanting to refuse any opportunity to kill The Hunter.

"With pleasure… Your Highness."

….

Aiden made his way to the hospital where the teacher and the doctor were said to be. He ran with all his might, carrying a finger from the enlarged hand of one of the Cleric Beasts. After Connor gave him back the Beast Claw, which he said he didn't need to use, he kept it in his coat, in case it was needed.

We was sure to examine the whole area on his way over, making sure that there were no creatures around. Now that he knew that the Vileblood queen was invading this world, he would need to keep an eye out for any new creatures.

Of course, it would only make things more interesting for him.

He stopped when he saw a figure standing outside the hospital, matching the description of the doctor that Connor and Kira gave. He simply smiled as if without a care in the world. Now that his confidence has been renewed, he has no reason to fear his enemies.

He strode over to the doctor, whose attention was quickly caught at the sight of The Hunter. She greeted him with a smile and held out her hand.

"Dr. Maria Flynn, the doc in these parts." She said.

"Aiden West, Beast Hunter… Kira never said how beautiful you are." Aiden replied.

Maria kept a cool poker face, but was secretly flattered by his comment.

" _This guy's got potential… kinda handsome alright._ " Maria thought. "Kira never told me she had a poorly dressed hunk for a brother, but isn't life full of surprises.

Aiden wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a compliment or an insult, so he just chuckled in response. Soon after, they made their way into the hospital, where Aiden took the liberty of informing her of what happened at the school, to which she responded with a haughty laugh, not believing a creature like that could ever exist. Her laughter was short-lived however, when Aiden pulled out Connor's phone, which he lent to Aiden so that they could stay in contact. It seemed Connor snapped a few pictures of the fight, all of which were impressive quality.

"What do you think now?" he asked casually.

Recovering from her awe from the pictures, she became incredibly serious, she quickly turned to him, the movement causing him to jump a little bit.

"If this disease can cause something like this, we need to make that cure, NOW!"

"Then never fear." He pulled out two vials of crimson liquid and handed them to Maria.

"One contains the blood of Ebrietas, the monster from the pictures, the second is the blood of Anna Connelly, who has become infected by this disease in a… unique way. Can you make the necessary cure for both strands?"

Maria was silent through Aiden's short speech. She remained silent for a few more seconds before taking the vials.

"We can, but were going to need more material, maybe something that was infected with this disease. It doesn't have to be alive, I just need to examine something so I can see how it affects those infected. Can you find me something?" she asked.

Aiden placed his hand into his pocket and quickly pulled out the finger of the Cleric Beast.

"Anything else?" Aiden asked.

Maria raised her eyes in surprise, seeing that this man came prepared. She pulled out a plastic bag and a pair of large tweezers, used the tweezers to hold the finger and placed it into the bag.

"Time to get to work." She said with a cocky smile.

The hospital suddenly shook, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. Aiden quickly grabbed his pistol and cane and turned to the door.

"Indeed" he said in a much darker tone than before.

Maria noticed this change and felt an unusual chill go through her spine at the sound of his voice.

….

Gascoigne was on top of the roof, armed with his own axe and pistol. He was looking forward to this rematch. He was going ti ensure that this would be The Hunter's last fight.

However, while he was sure of victory, he was also keen on seeing what other talents he had acquired while in the Hunter's Nightmare. If what he heard was true, the creatures there are gods compared to what was present in Yharnam.

A thought suddenly came to him. The mace that he had been impaled with by The Hunter had drained his blood and became an incredibly large and dangerous weapon. There was only one mace in existence that matched the one The Hunter used.

The Bloodletter, the main choice of weapon of Brador, the Church Assassin.

If Brador was in the Nightmare, and The Hunter had his weapon, then it may be more difficult for him, having managed to defeat the most ruthless killer the Church had to offer.

But not impossible.

"Come on out" came The Hunter's voice.

Gascoigne looked down and saw his prey, seeming to have little concern for the fight to come. He held the Threaded Cane and the old pistol. Gascoigne chuckled at how unprepared he seemed. He chose this opportunity to attack. He leapt from the roof and extended his axe handle, turning it inbto a halberd spear-like weapon. With all his might, he swung he axe towards his target as he fell, sure of his precision.

The Hunter, however, already knew he was there. Whe the axe was a metre and a half away from the centre of his head, he promptly side-stepped to his left. When the former priest landed, causing gravel and concrete to fly into the air, The Hunter swung his cane with great speed and force, resulting in Gascoigne being unable to register the attack. He was struck on his head and was sent flying fifty feet from where he landed. The impact left him feeling groggy, but he was back on his feet quickly nonetheless. Filled with rage and humiliation, he aimed his pistol and firled multiple bullets towards The Hunter.

….

Aiden grinned as he saw the bullets, opting to side-step again to avoid them and ensure that his opponent would waste his ammunition. Eventually, he heard the pistol click without any bullets. Aiden took the opportunity and ran at Gascoigne, thrusting the cane at his opponent's right arm. He found his mark and the weapon penetrated through Gascoigne's shoulder.

Wasting no time, he turned and hurled the cane, with Gascoigne still attached, and slammed him into the ground.

Aiden pulled out the cane and took a step back. He suddenly felt like he had done this before. He holstered his pistol and sheathed his cane, deciding the fight was over. He turned to check how Maria was doing when he heard movement occur from another source. He caught an incoming fist, pulled it further and spun his head to see Gascoigne snarling at him. Aiden replied by heat-butting him in the nose and kicking his right knee, causing him to lose his balance. Aiden's next movement was swift, turning on his heal and pushing Gascoigne's arm with enough force to flip him.

Aiden back-stepped so that he could see his work. Gascoigne was about to get up when Aiden brought back the cane, threw it in a straight line like an arrow and impaled him in the sternum, pinning him down. Gascoigne convulsed for half a minute before going still. Aiden raised his eyebrows in surprise. It wasn't this easy to fight Gascoigne before. He walked up to the corpse and brought out the stake driver. He pulled back the main mechanism, prepared to blow the corpse to pieces, ensuring his defeat.

Gascoigne's hand quickly morphed into a claw, and he quickly sprang up and slashed Aiden's leg off with them.

Aiden fell to the ground in agonising pain. The explosion system from the stake driver, having been interrupted, failed to go off, and Gascoigne saw his chance to grab the weakened enemy by the throat and continue taking him apart.

….

Maria had rushed back to her off ice to set up for the examination of the infected material Mr. West gave him. she was surprised, and suspicious, of how he is even capable of fighting the creatures she saw.

Such important research needed time to set up, and by the time she was finished, she had decided to go find Aiden to see if he wanted to join her. Despite her suspicions, she was suddenly quite fond of him. Not in a romantic sense, but rather someone to banter with. They seem be able to talk to each other easily, which is useful as she didn't have many people to talk to.

She reached the front entrance, where she saw a horrific sight.

A man an unusual and bloodied clothes was holding Aiden's torso, without any arms and legs, blood flowing and squirting from different parts. He attacker released the remainder of Aiden's form.

"It appears I was worried for nothing. Despite all that you have seen and face, you were never truly invincible. Without the Hunter's Dream, what are you?" he said.

Smoke emitted from Aiden's nearly lifeless torso, confusing Gascoigne. The confusion was quickly resolved when Aiden exploded; orbs of lights were launched at Gascoigne, shredding him to pieces with each hit. It seemed that The Hunter had more surprises than anyone could expect.

When the attacker was decimated, any essence of life that was left in Aiden was extinguished.

Maria was bewildered and shocked at the violent scene that she saw before her. She ran to Aiden to see what she could do, despite knowing that nothing could be done. She knelt into a puddle of his blood and laid her hands on her lap. While many people would run from such a sight, she was used to unsavoury sights, and was capable of staying by Aiden's side as long as possible.

Within seconds, however, Aiden's corpse began to disintegrate into ashes, much to Maria's shock. She grasped at the corpse, hoping to save it, but she only managed to grab a handful of ashes.

…..

Kira and her friends were still at the school, keeping an eye out for any creatures. Aiden told them to call him if any appeared; he would do the eliminating.

Kira was sitting in a chair, staring out the window, imagining what to do later in life. Her main hopes were to go to Paris and practice art. She might even get into writing, create a story based on what happened here, or during Aiden's time in the old city, if he was okay with it.

She also hoped that Aiden would finally be able to escape his curse after this. After everything that happened to him, and after seeing some of the pain he had endured, she felt it was time for it all to end.

She was disturbed by the sound of her phone ringing. She checked and saw that it was Maria calling.

She answered the call "Hey doc, did you get the samples…. What do you mean something happened?" she was silent for a few minutes as Maria explained what had happened. It only took a minute to explain, but Kira was unable to speak or even think.

She has just learned that her brother, who had quickly become the most important and dependable person in her life was slaughtered. Instead of ending the call, her phone fell from her grip, leaving Maria calling out to her to see if she was alright. Kira stood up from her chair, only to fall on her knees and scream into the night sky.


End file.
